


Sketching A Nightmare

by sharkgriffin



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Angst, Depression, F/M, Fluff, Megstiel - Freeform, Mild Fantasy, Mild Language, Romance, Sexual Content, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-14 14:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 22
Words: 38,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1269262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharkgriffin/pseuds/sharkgriffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas Milton is an art students who had just moved to a new school is Lawrence where he meets one of the mean girls, Meg Masters. As a relationship forms between them, Cas' drawings begin to get more disturbing. And Meg has a few secrets of her own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is finished and I'm going to try and publish one chapter every two days.

A pile of clothes stuffed at the back of a practically empty wardrobe, leaning against the wall of a bedroom that had been stripped of all life. The bed in the centre was now just a frame with the mattress and sheets taken, and marks were scattered across the white wall from all the posters that had been ripped down.

For 16 years, this room had been home to Cas but now, like with everything else in life, it was time to move on. He stared into the wardrobe, trying to pick what he should wear, what would make the best impression.

"Cas!" The door burst open and his friend, Rachel, ran in, panting heavily like she had just run a mile. She wore baggy jeans and her blonde hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail with a blue elastic that highlighted her eyes.

"Jack says the Miltons are arriving in half an hour so you have to be ready soon," she gasped. She turned to leave but Cas stopped her. "Rachel, what should I wear?"

She looked at him for a moment and then laughed. "Castiel having fashion problems. Who would have thought?"

"Rachel," he begged.

"Look. I don't know, I hardly Miss Fashionista. Just wear your light blue shirt. It's smart but not too over the top."

"Ok." The two friends stared at each other for a few moments, slightly awkwardly, until she stepped forward and hugged him. Her breath smelt of minty toothpaste and her hair was soft on his face.

"I'll miss you. Call me every night and if someone's mean to you, tell me."

He was about to protest against her treating him like a baby but instead he just smiled to himself. She had been practically his only friend since he arrived here. The other kids, at the home and the local high school, had always teased him. He was always too small, too weak, too geeky, too shy, too awkward but Rachel acted like his older sister, defending him. He could fight them, he knew but he never did for the fear of what they'd do back to him when he wasn't expecting it.

Rachel pulled away now, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Rachel, could you umm leave while I, you know, get changed?"

"Oh right." She giggled and left, shutting the door behind her.

As he began to button up the sky blue shirt, he caught sight of a light brown bundle, just visible from under the bed. Doing up the final two buttons in seconds, he whispered goodbye to this bedroom forever, picked up his suitcase an wrapped the bundle around his arm. It was a trenchcoat.

An old, slightly broken down looking car, pulled up on to the gravel path and a girl, dressed in a navy blue, woollen coat with red hair that fell down her back and a thin face, rushed towards him and enveloped him in a hug, his second hug of the day.

"C-can't breathe," he managed to rasp.

"Oh sorry," the girl said. She held out her hand for him to shake. "I'm Anna and you must be Castiel,"

"Cas," he corrected, looking down at the floor.

"Cas," she beamed. "Oh I'm so happy you're gonna be my brother. Our parents couldn't come so our brother, Gabriel came to pick you up instead." She nodded towards the car where a long-haired boy, a few years older than them, was sucking a lollipop. Cas noticed how she'd put emphasis on each "our".

"Here, let me take your suitcase." She grabbed it from his hand and reached for his coat but he firmly shook his head and climbed into the backseat, plugging his headphones into his mobile and letting himself drift away into his alternative tunes. But, as they sped away into the distance with him nodding his head in time to the beat, he saw Rachel wave from her bedroom window with a sad, sad smile on her face.

____________________

The country was nothing like he'd expected. He'd thought that maybe Kansas would be farms and tornadoes appearing around every corner but everything just seemed so normal. The houses were average, he supposed. Two floors, a front garden, all about 50 years old. Gabriel stopped the car suddenly in front of one of them.

"Ere we ore," he said with a mouthful of toffee.

Anna shot him an annoyed look and held the door open for Cas.

"Come on, I'll show you to your bedroom. Mom will be back from work soon." Her hands shaking with excitement, she unlocked the green front door and when it was finally done, held it open like Cas were some kind of King.

His eyes darted left and right, up and down the front hall, trying to guess as much about this family as he could. Everywhere was carpeted. That was the first thing he noticed. And the walls were painted cream with green decorations hanging from them such as green photo frames, plant pots and one clock by the side of a door that must have led to the kitchen. To most people, the colour scheme would seem strange but he understood how it worked.

"Your room's on the top floor," Anna had begun her unstoppable chatter again. "Do you want me to help you or maybe you want to go on your own, go up the first stairs then there's another set of stairs and it's the first door on the right."

He just nodded and began to wheel his suitcase up the staircase, with some effort. It knocked against each stair, beginning to create a rhythm and Cas couldn't help but imagine this as the opening for a music video with just the drum playing in the background.

The door to his new room was white, just like back at the home but newer, probably only painted a few days before as it had a sort of shine to it. Taking a deep breath, he gently pushed open the door. The bedroom was almost twice the size of his old one and carpeted of course, but the walls were painted a pale blue like the sky. The bed was in the very corner, longer and wider than before and obviously much stronger. Everything had been laid out just loosely enough that he could move it to his liking but he didn't care. There was only one thing that mattered. Noticing it was there with delight, he abandoned his case by the door, seated himself at the desk by the window and, as he always did to calm himself, began to draw.

____________________

**The girl waits silently in the middle of the empty warehouse. She grips her weapon tightly in her hand. Sweat trickles down her neck. They'd better be here soon. She knows she should trust them but somehow, a part of her has doubt.**

**A light bulb explodes above her head.**

**"Hello," she calls, turning around, suddenly paranoid. "Who's there?" She doesn't see the figure creep up behind her. "Hello Anna."**

"Cas." Anna called out to him, jolting him back into the real world.

"I'm sorry, I don't want to bother you but mom says dinner's ready and she really wants to meet you. Are you drawing?"

"Oh it's nothing." He attempted to cover it up.

"Wow. That's just really...wow. Is that me in the drawing?" She came over and pointed to the girl, looking so lifelike on the paper.

"Uh, um yeah. It is."

"And who's that?" She gestured towards the shadow standing behind the drawing version of herself who's face was obscured.

"Oh uh he's just some random guy." He folded it up.

"So what's going on? In the picture I mean? Is it some horror movie? Am I the pretty girl who gets murdered?" She mimed choking and then fell to the floor, drawing out a small giggle from Cas.

"No. It's just sometimes I like to draw out stories. It calms me down...sort of and well it's a bit like being able to just escape from the real world and live a fantasy life." Anna seemed impressed by his speech.

"So what's this story?"

"So far, I have absolutely no idea. But I'm working on it," he offered.

"Cool. Anyway, we better go down now. Mom's making pasta and she doesn't like it when it gets cold. Follow me. The kitchen's this way." With life in each step, she skipped down the the stairs. He followed her slowly. He took a moment to think: Would they like him? But those thoughts drifted away with Anna beckoning for him to come.

Cas pushed his spaghetti around his plate, hoping that maybe it would look like he had eaten some. The tomato sauce was so watery that he couldn't imagine how she'd managed to squeeze any tomatoes into it. Gabriel saw his look of disgust and laughed silently before winking. Cas decided he liked him.

"So Cas, were you doing well at school?" Mrs Milton had been bombarding him with questions since the moment he sat down. He got the feeling she was interrogation him. She was Anna's height. Roughly 5"5. With looks, she resembled Gabriel more with his light brown hair and a big forehead. She had dressed in green, to match the rest of the house, an old fashioned, lime green dress with a darker apron.

"Uh yeah. I guess so." Anna sensed his nervousness and saved him.

"Mom, he's really good at art. In fact, he drew me earlier."

"Oh that's wonderful. We really love art in this household and I'd be happy to put some of it up. Why haven't you eaten your pasta?"

He looked up from his bowl.

"Oh. I'm not hungry. Big breakfast," he lied, sure that she could hear it in his voice.

"I bet he's nervous for tomorrow. Maybe he should go to bed early," said Anna.

"Yeah, maybe I should too. I'm feeling really really nervous." This time Gabriel spoke.

Mrs Milton looked at him with a hint of amusement and then sighed.

"Fine, all of you up to bed. But Gabriel, that means bed."

"Yeah mom, sure thing." He pulled a face and began to make his way upstairs but as they walked in a tired line, he pushed a toffee into Cas' hand.

"You're welcome," he whispered and stomped quickly up to his room next to Anna's. Yes, life was indeed going to be different here.

"Rachel. Yeah sorry there's a bad signal here." Rachel was shouting down the phone at him.

"Cas, are you alright. That ginger girl seemed a bit strange."

"Anna? No, she's really nice. Gabriel too. To be honest though," he dropped his voice to practically a whisper "Mrs Milton is a bit scary and her pasta really isn't good but I think I could grow to like her."

"Well I'm glad you're so happy." There was a shake in Rachel's voice.

"Rachel, you ok?"

"I'm sorry. I just...wish I could have a family like you do now. You know. Be adopted"

"Oh Rachel." He suddenly heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "Sorry Rachel, I have to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

And with that, he hung up the phone, turned off the light and fell into a dreamless sleep


	2. Chapter 2

Cas looked in the mirror, trying to flatten his hair but however much he beat at it, it always rose straight back up.

"Hey, you almost ready to go?" Anna stood in the doorway with one hand resting on the wall.

"Almost. Just give me two seconds." He again attempted to push his hair down.

"Oh Cas. It looks good like that. Makes you look cute. Just leave it."

"Anna, you're meant to be my sister. Don't go getting a crush on me."

Anna smiled and went over to his desk where yet another sheet of paper was used up on his notepad.

"This is Gabriel, right? I like how you gave him a lollipop. But why's he got wings?"

"I don't know. I guess I was picturing him as an angel."

Anna laughed. "Gabriel as an angel. Imagine that. Hey smile." Anna pulled her camera phone out of her school bag that was slung over her shoulder.

"First day of 11th grade selfie. Say cheese." They both grinned and Anna held it about an inch above their heads and it flashed.

"Here." She turned it so he could see. Anna had the widest smile on her face and seemed to be halfway through a blink. Cas was staring wide eyed at the camera like there were something to be afraid of, his blue eyes gleaming with fear.

"Oh God. I look awful. Never mind. We'd better go. I'm driving."

They hurried down to the kitchen where the remains of breakfast were still laid out. Gabriel leaned against the counter, eating oreos straight out of the packet. The silence was filled with his munching. Cas wondered how many calories he consumed a day.

"Why isn't Gabriel going to school now?" Cas asked as they left the house, closing the door silently behind them.

"He's a senior and for some reason, they're not starting till tomorrow. Means him and Balthazar can mess around all day."

"Balthazar? What kind of a name is Balthazar? No offence to him but it's almost as bad as Castiel."

"I honestly have no idea what his parents were thinking when they named him. I guess they wanted his name to be, you know, unique. Anyway, he's Gabriel's best friend and they're like the two pranksters of the school. The number of times we've been sent letters home is well, you get the idea. Anyway, can you drive?"

"Nope."

"Great. I need another practice at the corner. I always go too fast and skid of road. I got my license like two months ago and mom and dad don't trust me to go too far so normally Gabriel drives me. Go on. Get in."

Obediently, Cas opened the door and climbed into the front seat. It was surprisingly hard.

"OK, it's about a mile to school so 10 minutes at the most." She turned the key to ignite the engine.

"Fancy some music?"

Cas shrugged. "Sure." Anna pressed the button for the radio and some country song he didn't know came on. He wasn't that keen on it but Anna seemed to like it as she mouthed each word so he decided to put up with it.

Few people were out at this time of the morning but those who were walked like zombies, slumped over, exhausted. The houses grew further apart until they were just driving down a road surrounded by trees. Anna was a very fast driver and slowed down a significant amount as they turned a sharp corner. This must have been the one she was talking about as she seemed delighted when they had passed it. Finally, the car came to a quick halt in front of a modern looking, white building with a car park in front. A few students were already filing in.

Anna drove them into a parking space and got out.

"We're have to go to the front office first to tell them you're here. You're gonna be in my class so I can show you around."

Confidently, she led him towards to big, glass doors at the very front. A young woman with dark hair in a ponytail and rectangular glasses, looked up as they entered.

"Hello Anna. Did you have a nice vacation?"

Anna nodded.

"This is Castiel. He's starting here today. He's my...brother."

The woman glanced down at her papers and them nodded.

"Yes, he's on here. I'll let Principal Deville know he's here. Anna, could you kindly take him to his class."

Anna didn't need to answer. She was already leading him off down a narrow corridor.

Artworks were spaced out across the walls, most of them to a very high level.

"Do you know any of the people who drew these?" Cas asked, stopping in front of one.

Anna scanned the drawings and then looked back at him.

"Yeah. That one." She pointed to a pencil drawing of a boy with spiky hair.

"It's by one of my friends, Jo. I think it's of her boyfriend, Dean."

"It's good."

"Yeah. Come on class is this way." Anna led him through a door at the end of the corridor. It was an average sized classroom, all work had been taken down to begin the new school year.

"Dammit," muttered Anna under her breath.

"What is it?"

"Mr Crowley's not here yet. You're gonna have to just wait by his desk until he comes. It's OK. I'll save you a seat." And she sat down in the middle of the room at a desk for two people.

Cas stood anxiously by the teacher's desk. A few students began to come in. First a short, Asian boy, paying no attention to where he was walking, all focus on his game boy. He sat down at the very front. He was soon followed by a pretty, ginger haired girl in a star wars t-shirt and hoodie. She sat down right next to him. 10 minutes passed and by the then, the room was filled with loud and rapid chattering. A few people had noticed him and were whispering to their friends but most hadn't seen him.

A man in a suit with short, brown hair and a beard strolled in and stood next to the desk.

"Hallo class," he said in a British accent. "I hope you all had a good Summer and," he turned to Cas. "I would like to welcome your new classmate, Castiel Milton." There were a few sniggers around the classroom.

"Cas," Cas whispered to him.

"Alright Cas. I'm Mr Crowley. I think I would like you to sit next to..." He noticed the empty seat next to Anna and smiled. "Anna."

A few students watched him go and offered him weak smiles but he ignored them and sat down next to Anna and began to unpack his bag.

Mr Crowley began to call out names from the register. Cas called yes sir at his and when all names had been read out, Mr Crowley was about to send them off to period 1 when a boy with spiky hair and a leather jacket, the same one from Jo's drawing Cas realized, ran in, out of breath.

"Dean, why are you late?" Mr Crowley asked with some fondness in his eyes.

"Sir. I don't believe we should have labels like fat or stupid or late nowadays," Dean said in a deep voice.

The whole class erupted into laughter.

"Just sit down Dean. Jesse seems to have saved a seat for you." As Dean sat, a few girls' heads turned including Anna's. Just as he sat down, the bell rang and the class was dismissed.

____________________

Cas sat at a bench in the small outdoor area. Anna slid into the space next to him.

"How'd you enjoy Math?"

He shrugged. "It was OK I guess."

"What do you think of Mr Crowley."

"He seems nice."

She laughed. "He may seem nice but you should see the other side of him. Sometimes I think he must be the King of Hell. But Principal Deville's the one you really have to watch out for. He is literally the Devil."

 A group of four walked in front of them, led by the girl with ginger hair and the star wars t-shirt.

"Those are the nerds. The red headed girl, that's Charlie Bradbury. She's a lesbian and a computer hacker and that behind her, the shorter boy, he's Kevin Tran. Advanced placement, cello player."

"Who are they?" Cas asked, pointing to a group of kids in designer clothes, all talking into cell phones.

"Posh kids. Michael, Raphael, Bela, Naomi and Hester. I think they each have a mansion somewhere. They're the goths," she said, pointing to a pair of girls in dark clothes. "Hippies, jocks, rebels," she carried on counting the different social groups off on her fingers, but Cas was no longer listening for he was looking at a group of four girls, walking confidently past like they had no care in the world. Each had hair in tight curls, dark eyes, outlined heavily, and tight leather jackets.

"And who are they?"

Anna looked and then turned back to him.

"You ever heard of the movie Mean Girls?"

"Yeah." He didn't want to admit that Rachel had made him watch it with her at every birthday since she was 11.

"Hell in high heels. If demons had a human form... You see the blonde one. That's Lily Eden. Queen bee, always with the hot boyfriend and the top parties. Her smile falls all the teachers. She's head cheerleader too. The full package. Your typical blonde with not so much of the dumb. She's their leader and the school's biggest bitch. The one with red hair. Abby Sands. She's Lily's second in command. I'm pretty sure she has a real thing for Dean though but if she ever does get him, it will be over in a week. The pretty one with dark hair? Ruby Burns. The hottest girl in the school and possibly the stupidest. She doesn't care about anyone, anyone, but herself."

"And who's she?" He was looking at the last girl. Shorter than the others with light brown hair and a charm necklace.

"That's Meg Masters. Not many people know much about her but she arrived about a year ago and then suddenly she was one of them. It's crazy. They even have their own table in the cafeteria." She began to lead him away towards her friends.

"And these are my friends. This is Jo, Jody, Garth and Lisa."

As the mean girls walked past, he caught Meg looking at him and she smiled. There was something different about her from all the others.

"Cas, come on," Anna called and he turned and ran after her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Can everyone please line up outside the door?"

Cas obediently got into line at the very front, eager for his first Art lesson.

"Now go in and line up against the back wall," said the short, dark haired woman who was to be his Art teacher.

"Hello juniors," she called out once they were all lined up. "I'm Mrs Tongson. Some of you may have had me last year. You are all taking Art because you enjoy it and wish to possibly carry it on to university so for today's lesson, I am going to see to what level your work is so we will start with you doing whatever you want. It can be drawing, painting, anything but you must complete it in this lesson or otherwise, at home. Now, for your assigned seats."

She began to call out names and point to chairs and the students would either run to their chair excitedly and start chatting to their friend or slowly walk over and sit looking grumpy in silence.

"Castiel." She pointed to a seat opposite Jo.

"And Dean. How about you sit here, next to Castiel?"

Dean glared at him.

Cas put up his hand. "Could you cal me Cas please? With one S?"

"Of course." She wrote this down on the register.

"Alright, you have 20 minutes, starting from...now."

**The man turned around, considering which weapon he should use for his torture next. He needed his revenge, this man had tortured him for decades but yet he would have given anything not to do this, anything. He turned around, his demon blade in his hand, now soaked with holy water. "Let's see how this hurts you."**

**But the demon was no longer chained up against the pentagram. The tiniest gap had been scraped in the trap that imprisoned him. Someone had set him free! But the man had no time to figure out how as he was attacked.**

"What are you drawing?"

Cas looked up to see Dean looking over his shoulder. Dean's paper was practically blank except for a line at the edge. Cas pulled his arm away to reveal a pencil drawing of a man standing, holding a knife in front of a wooden star. A scary man, covered in blood was behind him in an attack position. Both were faceless.

"I don't know," Cas lied.

"Why are they faceless?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know much do you, Cas-ti-el?"

Cas shrugged, fury building up inside of him. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, he thought.

"I saw you in English this morning. You didn't answer any of Mr Jeckel's questions." All Cas could do was shrug again.

"Ok, time's up," Mrs Tongson called out. She came over to them.

"Good work Jen. Jo, work on color blending. Dean, where is your drawing? Cas, nice work. Work on tone and giving them faces at home."

She moved on to the next table.

"Ok, class dismissed."

Cas packed up his things and left swiftly with Jo, not wanting another confrontation with Dean. Anna met up with them and they began to make their way to the car park.

"Um Anna," said Cas.

"What is it?" Anna turned to him.

"I left my phone in my locker."

"It's OK. We'll wait for you."

"No. You take the car. I'll walk."

"It's a long walk."

"It's fine. I could do with the excercise."

He began to make his way back to the lockers and unlocked it. He grabbed his phone and left again. He was about to make the walk back home when he heard a deep voice from behind the wall.

"Come on Alastair. Just let me go." It was Dean's voice.

"This isn't good ENOUGH!" An unfamiliar voice this time.

"Look. I don't have any more money. This is all I have."

"Well then you're gonna have to pay in a different way."

Suddenly, Cas heard a crack and then a cry for help. He knew the sensible thing to do would be walk away or even call 911 but by then it might be too late. He leaned as far over as he could without being seen and could get a good view. Dean was pushed up against a wall with a cut across his forehead. An enormous boy, Gabriel's age, but far scarier looking, stood over him with a knife.

Without thinking, Cas leapt out and grabbed Alastair's hand, twisting it until the knife fell out of his grip. Then, he kicked with all his might and Alastair fell to the ground. He began to scramble around for his knife but Cas got it first.

"Go. NOW!" Alastair got up and ran away as fast as he could.

Dean looked up, disbelief in his eyes.

"How did you do that and do not say I don't know."

"What? You think I can't fight."

"Actually, yeah. I mean, you're kind of..."

"Small, skinny."

"Yeah. It's kind of like my kid brother, Sam, who's 12 by the way, beating me at wrestling."

"Don't I get a thank you."

"Uh OK. Thanks Cas." And Dean smiled at him before walking off.

____________________

That night, Cas sat at his desk, finishing his drawing just like Mrs Tongson told him to. And he began to add in faces. But as he filled in the face of the man, he drew Dean.


	4. Chapter 4

August drew by quickly and soon, it was nearly the end of September. Surprisingly, it started to get warmer and a car was no longer needed as it was a nice walk to and from school.

On the 25th, after an extremely boring day, Cas began to walk back to the house in a big group:

Him, Dean, Anna, Jo, Gabriel, Balthazar, Gabriel's English friend and the biggest joker ever, an Balthazar's younger sister, Bela.

Orange and chestnut leaves fell around them like some Autumn photography. An Asian girl with dark brown, curly hair in a red, floaty shirt, walked past and winked at Gabriel. Gabriel, who was sucking on a lollipop, smiled.

Suddenly, Lily strode up to them, her lips turned up slightly at the side, showing off her dark pink lip gloss and her hair was in a high ponytail.

"Hi Cas," she said like a typical girl in love. "Hey Dean. Party at my house on Saturday. Starts at 8. Be there. Oh, and you're all invited too." She then, walked quickly away.

"What was that about?" Cas asked.

"I'm guessing everyone's heard about the thing with Alastair."

"But who told them. I only told An_"

"Sorry Cas," said Anna.

"Dude. She will eat you alive," Dean said with mockery in his voice.

"Well then, I guess we're going," said Jo.

"Then I need to go shopping," Bela answered.

____________________

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Cas asked.

"Why do you ask? Did you expect bigger?" Dean replied.

"No. It's just I didn't know Lily was a princess."

They were standing in front of Lily's house, ready for the party but it seemed to be a mansion, five times the size of the Milton house and complete with swimming pool and tennis courts.

Dean was dressed the same as always, leather jacket, shirt, t-shirt, amulet necklace and jeans, not making any effort to impress the girls. He had brought Cas, Anna and Jo in his 1967 Chevy Impala which was pretty impressive.

Cas had borrowed a leather jacket from Dean and had tried on a gray shirt, the best he could get.

The four if them walked up to the door and Dean pressed the door bell. Talking, screaming and music could be heard through the door. Lily opened it and smiled when she saw Cas but shot a jealous look at Anna. He knew what she was thinking and the idea struck him as hilarious. She was practically his sister.

"Hi. Thanks for coming." Behind her head, the guests were visible, some their age, some older and some younger.

She led them to an enormous living room with a flat screen TV and where some type of bar had been set up. Jesse, Luke and Zach, three boys from their grade were throwing around a vase. There was no free room. Nowhere to move, stand or sit.

Leaving Dean, Cas squeezed through a space in between Pamela and Daisy to the table where various snacks were laid out and grapped a handful of potato chips. Trying to find a place where he could just be quiet for a second, he pushed open a door he assumed was to a cupboard and looked in horror and embarrassment. Naomi and a boy he didn't know had their arms around each other and were kissing sloppily like they were very drunk. The boy had his shirt off and was slowly unzipping Naomi's dress. When they sensed his presence, they pulled away from each other, their cheeks turning red. Cas slammed the door shut and flopped down on the sofa, stuffing the chips in his mouth. Rn'B music played in the background and people were dancing up against the red wall. Cas caught sight of Abby in a floaty blue dress and Balthazar in a V-necked shirt, dancing with Hester. A beer stood on the foot rest in front of him. Feeling bored, he reached for it and unscrewed the lid.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you," a voice, edged with sarcasm called from his side. It was Meg, wearing a strapless, black dress with a matching black flower in her hair. Her lip gloss was a dark shade of pink and she had hoop earrings on.

"Why shouldn't I try it?"

She took the bottle from him and took a sip before gagging.

"Cause it tastes like crap." She smiled at him.

"It's Cas, right?"

He nodded shyly.

"Well Cas, I'm guessing this is your first house party. A warning for you. Don't take anything from over there. I'm pretty sure Luke has spiked all the drinks. DO NOT go into a bedroom with any girl. Oh and one more thing. Stay away from Lily. She has a thing for you but one day, she will break your heart. She's slept with literally all the guys in the year. She likes Dean of course but he's only got eyes for Jo. Lily's a slut and a bitch. In fact, all of them are, Abby and Ruby too."

"Well then why do you hang out with them?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. He expected her to look offended but she just grinned.

"Sometimes, to fit in, to not be the bullied kid anymore, you have to do stupid things. You know, adapt to survive. You just wanna be normal for once. I'm sure you feel the same way."

He nodded.

"Yeah always."

"Oh God, this music's awful." Blurred Lines had just come on.

"They could really do with playing rock. It would actually surprise you the amount of alt rock on my ipod. I'm a really big Imagine Dragons fan. Ever heard of them?"

"Yeah. But I've never heard their songs. Are they good?"

"Good? They're great! Who do you like?"

"I'm a Fall Out Boy fan."

"Yeah, they're really good too. I do remixes of their music."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Maybe you should come round to my apartment sometime and I'll show you. Can I take your number?" She wrote her number down on his hand.

"So want to dance?" Meg asked when they were done.

"Thought you said the music sucked?"

"Well, it does. But you know, for a laugh. Just pretend you're drunk."

She took his hand and led him to the dance floor as the speakers played a Rihanna song. Meg was a great dancer, her hair bouncing in time with the music and a smirk on her face. Her black eyes were filled with life and sparkled in the disco lights.

When the song was finished, she left, waving to him as she went. Dean came up to him.

"So, you and Meg?" He winked.

"Dean, she's just my friend."

"Dude, you like her so much. She likes you too. You should ask her out."

"Shut up. I don't like her."

"So you're saying a hot girl walks up to you and invites you round to her house and you have  _no_ interest in her at all. I knew you were gay."

"Hey. And OK, she is hot, but I _don't_ like her."

"Sure, sure. Let's go, I don't feel like staying any longer."


	5. Chapter 5

"Cas, you haven't called in weeks. Are you alright?" Rachel's voice sounded panicky.

"Rachel. I'm fine. Really. I just got distracted, I guess."

"Yeah, because you're having such a great time."

"No. Well yeah actually. Art's great and I've got this new friend Dean and Anna's great."

"Yeah, whatever. So when can you come and visit?"

"We're not sure. I mean, it's a long drive from Kansas to Illinois so... Look, it doesn't matter. We'll talk about it another time. I'm going round to Meg's now."

"Meg? Who's Meg?"

"She's this girl at my school. She likes the same music as me and she makes remixes. She's going to show me some."

"Is she pretty?" He detected jealousy in his voice.

"Uh, yeah um I guess she is er kind of." He felt his cheeks turn red.

"Well I have stuff to do too. Bye Cas!" She sounded angry. It was odd.

He slung his backpack over one shoulder and put his sketch pad under his left arm. He zipped up his hoodie and trotted downstairs.

Mr and Mrs Milton, Rich and Amy as he now called them, sat at the kitchen table like they did most of the time. Gabriel was on his laptop. Cas caught a glimpse of which website he was on and looked away again.

"Where are you going Cas?" Amy asked.

Cas had hoped to sneak out without them asking questions but he was not going to have such luck.

"I'm going to see a girl from my school." He then realised how that must sound.

"It's Meg Masters, isn't it? She's really hot," said Gabriel.

"Gabriel." Rich looked at him with disappointment on his face. He was a priest and did not like any of them ever describing a person's beauty.

"What dad? It's true."

Rich shook his head.

"Well have a nice time and try to be back before 10."

Gabriel started making kissing noises. Cas turned back to him.

"So what about you and Kali?" he said and then walked out the door, able to hear his parents immediately questioning Gabriel. Meg's house was 5 minutes away, in the centre of town. It was 4 now and busy. People pushed past him, some colliding with him and walking off without so much as a sorry.

He had called her that morning, feeling it was strange to even call at all but she'd been happy for him to come over.

He came to her flat. Four floors and painted white like the others. Quite modern looking. The third doorbell up read "Masters" and he pressed it. Rustling noises came from behind the door and it was pulled open. Meg stood, leaning against the wall, in a purple t-shirt and dark colored jeans.

"Hey." She smiled at him. "Come on up."

She led him up two flights of stairs by which time, he was completely out of breath and took him to a door which was open a crack, left like that so she would not have to unlock it again.

The inside was modern like the exterior and painted white like the Milton house but the decorations were purple, blue and black instead. A sofa, black and soft, was by the window, facing a flat screen TV. Almost every inch of the wall was covered with band posters, some he knew, some he did not. Not a single wall decoration featured her or her family. Candy wrappers had been scattered across the living room table and it joined to the kitchen where a slab of chocolate cake was laid out, the smell wafting towards him. It was kid heaven!

"So Meg. Are your parents out of town or something?"

"Yeah. Or something." She flopped onto the sofa.

"I've been working on a new remix. I finished this morning. Here."

She opened her laptop, shielding her password from him and handed over her headphones. A sound warmed his ears, beautiful, just the type of thing he liked but it had something different. Four long strings notes before a quick beat that reminded him of a ticking clock, followed by a woman humming.

"You made this? It's really, really good."

"It's what I want to do after high school. Go to a music school. I can show you how to do it."

For the next five minutes, she tried to teach him but in the end, the result was a few seconds of nice singing before it went mad. She laughed as they listened again.

"Told you I'd be bad at this," said Cas. "I guess music just isn't my thing.

"Well what is your thing?"

"People say I'm good at Art. I actually brought my sketchpad. He opened it, revealing his drawings to her, Anna with the figure standing behind her, Gabriel with wings, the hero and the demon, now with the faces of Dean and Alastair, and a picture of Rachel standing in front of the home.

"You're right. These are really good. Hey, do you think you could maybe draw me?"

"I'll try. Just sit still."

He sketched the outline of her head, then following with the features, blending her pupil and iris together and finishing with a rose on the right of her head. When he was done, he handed it to Meg. She stared at it for a while.

"Can I keep this?"

"Sure."

"So, you're obviously not a Milton."

"How do can you tell?"

"Well, to start with, if you were, you would have started at the school years ago with Anna. Then there's that accent. You can tell you're not from around here."

"You're not either."

"True. Then there's the resemblance. Anna and Gabriel both have those greenish-brown eyes and yours are blue. They have thin faces but yours is quite round. So where were you from really."

He hesitated, unsure whether he should tell her but something about her made him think he could trust her like she knew what he's been through. He took a deep breath.

"I don't know who my real parents are. 16 years ago, on April 11th, I was found on the doorstep of a foster home, wrapped in a trenchcoat. So basically, I grew up there with this one girl called Rachel. And then, 6 months ago, the Miltons decide they want to adopt me. I still have the trenchcoat. I shouldn't really be telling you this. I barely know you."

"Well maybe you trust me." She smiled sweetly at him."So what's your real surname?"

"Grace. Don't ask me how they came up with that."

"And what's with the name, Castiel?"

"It means shield of God. They thought better of me than they should have."

"I understand," said Meg. "I really do.

She stared at him for a moment with sort of hunger in her eyes. Maybe it was from the fact that they were so similar, even for two people so different. And then they kissed. It was long, passionate in a way and he felt even though he had never kissed, she was trying to teach him. He tried to remember what he had learned in the few movies he had seen. Then he pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He looked away. Again, this was always what happened in movies. He expected her to apologize as well but instead she just looked at him.

"No Cas, it's OK. Look, I haven't known you for that long but I like you. We're similar. But I won't do anything unless you feel the same way."

He thought for moment and then spoke, shyly. "I do. Listen, Meg. Do you want to maybe meet up after school tomorrow?"

"Are you asking me out?"

"Yes." He sounded almost scared. "Do you know any good places?"

"There's a cafe, 10 minute walk from school. They have the best ice cream. I'll show you."

He looked at his watch.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I have to go, I have half an hour to get back. "He began to gather up his things and she smiled as he stumbled around..

"See you tomorrow," she whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, is it true?" Dean ran up to Cas as he entered the locker room.

"Is what true?"

"You know. You and Meg. You were hooking up."

"Who told you that?"

"Well Hester told me that Bela told her that Balthazar told her that Gabriel told him that you went round to Meg's yesterday."

"Ok. Well I did but we're not_"

"Did you do it?"

"No," he said with clear annoyance in his voice.

"So what, you're not gonna see each other anymore?"

"No. I mean, we're meeting up for ice cream after school." Suddenly, Lily walked in.

"Hey Dean." She ignored Cas and carried on walking, winking at various boys as she walked along and attracting some stares.

"I wonder what she's going to do to Meg," Dean thought out loud but his question was answered as Meg strolled in with Ruby and Abby. Her hair seemed darker today and she wore less make up. Lily walked up to them.

"Ruby, Abby, come." The two of them shook their heads in time and Lily let out an exasperated sigh, followed by an 'I'll deal with you later' look at Meg.

The bell rang and everyone began to make their way out.

"Come on. Let's get to class."

____________________

"Good luck with your date, Cas," said Dean, smugly, as he swung his keys on his way to his car.

"Tell me everything that happens, tomorrow."

"Dean wait." Dean froze and turned to look at him.

"What is it?"

"Could you give me some advice?"

"About your date?"

Cas nodded. Dean began to walk back towards him.

"First thing. Offer to pay for all the food. Don't leave her to buy it herself. Second, compliment her eyes. And compare her to things. You know. Say she's as beautiful as the moon. That kind of thing. Talk to her about her feelings. Chicks dig sensitive guys. Give her flowers. And one more thing. Undo the buttons of your shirt."

Cas began to do this.

"Ok, stop. Yeah, I think that's good. Later lovebird."

Cas began to make his way to the school gates where Meg stood, leaning against a lamp post.

"I thought you weren't coming," she said as he approached.

"Sorry." He didn't know what else to say.

"You don't have to apologize. Anyway, do you like ice cream?"

"Yeah but I never really got to try it that much."

"You're so boring!The ice cream you tasted is nothing, nothing compared to this. And you can't miss it. It's built like a 50s diner. It's called sugar and cream. Trust me, sugar. You haven't lived until you've been to sugar and cream. Come." They walked in silence for a minute before she began to speak again.

"So what classes do you take, Cas? I'm guessing Art, right."

"Yeah. And you're doing Music? What else?"

"Drama, Biology, English and Spanish. You?"

"English, but you already knew that cause we're in the same class. History, Math and French."

"Math? Why Math?"

"I used to take extra lessons when I was a kid. Also, they say there's some link between Art and Math although God knows what. Is that it?" He pointed to a brightly colored cafe with stripes painted at the front and a big ice cream cone attached to the door. In red letters, a sign read 'Sugar and Cream'.

They walked in, a bell ringing as they went, and Meg seated them at a booth by the side. A waitress with blonde curls, similar to Lily's, and wearing a bright pink, 50s style dress, handed them two menus, each with their logo etched onto the front. Meg began to look at the sundaes page. Cas copied her example. She examined each page for a few seconds but obviously already knew what she wanted as she visited so often, until her eyes settled on something halfway down the sundaes page. "I think I'll get the chocolate fudge sundae," she said as she chewed on her lower lip.

"The very berry sundae sounds nice. Listen. Strawberry and raspberry ripple ice cream, topped with chopped forest berries and strawberry sauce." The waitress, seeing they were ready, came over and took their orders. When she was gone, Cas began to stare at Meg, nervous for what he was meant to say to her.

"Cas, you OK?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking, you have beautiful eyes."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, they sparkle in the light. You know, you remind me of the moon, so beautiful, so mysterious, so...round." He realised what he just said and froze. Meg looked at him for a moment in shock and then burst out laughing.

"Dean told you to say that, didn't he?"

Cas hesitated then nodded again.

"Look, I just want you to be yourself. It's you I like. Not the weird version of you that Dean has tried to get flirting with everyone."

At that point, the waitress brought their food in tall glasses or bowls or whatever they were called. Meg's was two scoops of chocolate ice cream, with small pieces of fudge scattered on top along with fudge sauce and whipped cream. She put the spoon in her mouth and savored it.

"This is great. How's yours?"

He tried it and an explosion of flavors burst in her mouth.

"Mm. This is the best thing I've ever tasted."

Meg leaned forward and Cas followed. She kissed him again, the same way as the day before but less passionate. A boy walking past wolf whistled. They pulled apart.

"You know, you're the first person I've actually properly liked and I want to ask you a question. Do you want to...be my boyfriend."

"Umm, OK."

"OK? That's all you can say?"

"Well I don't know what to say, I've never dated before."

"Me neither. Well not properly anyway. Just with the people Lily tried to get me together with so we could go on 'quadruple dates.' But we never went on them with the exact same people. Lily breaks up with her boyfriends literally every week."

He finished his ice cream with her following a few seconds later and they both pushed them into the middle.

"I'll pay."

"Aw, that's really sweet."

"Really?"

"No. It's fine. This was my idea. I'll pay."


	7. Chapter 7

**The four of them looked around the tiny storeroom they had locked themselves in. They were trapped. They could hear the barking from outside. "We need a distraction for them," said the girl. "I'll girl. I can fight them off and buy you enough time.**

**"Wait but how are you going to_" began the taller boy but he stopped as the girl kissed the shortest of the boys. She pulled away from him and he pushed her against the wall, kissing her back and dragging his hand through her hair. When they were done, the girl spoke again.**

**"What was that?"**

"So how did your date go?" Dean asked as they sat in Art class and Cas flipped open his sketchpad.

"Well I'm guessing," he said as he noticed the picture of Cas kissing Meg against the wall.

"Love the way you just drew me standing awkwardly in the background. Who's the other guy?"

"I thought maybe your brother."

"Sammy's 12 and half my size."

"I'm sorry. It's just how I pictured him."

"So anyway. Now that you and Meg are a couple, we need to discuss Halloween."

"What? But that's not for more than two weeks."

"We have to prepare. I don't end up at Lily's crap party."

"She wouldn't invite me anyway. She doesn't like me."

"She'll get over it in a few days, trust me."

"So what do you suggest we do?" At that point Mrs Tongson came over looking suspicious.

"I hope you boys are working," she said before leaving again.

"Well," said Dean when she was out of earshot.

"I thought I could go with Jo. She's not into all that romantic couple costume stuff."

"Gabriel and Balthazar have been discussing trick or treating in their scariest costumes at the little kids' homes. I just hope that Bela doesn't have to come. She's a bit spoilt."

"She's hot though."

"Yeah. I suppose so. I have an idea. We could have a party round at ours. You, me, Meg, Jo, Anna, Gabriel, Balthazar, maybe a few others. We trick or treat then just come back and dance. And absolutely no bitches."

Dean stared at him, shocked.

"You are learning, my young padawan."

"I don't understand that reference."

"Seriously? OK, one day we're gonna have a movie marathon."

****

"Ok, almost done." Anna dabbed fake blood onto Cas' face. She barely looked like Anna tonight with white face paint, a black wig and a long and torn, white wedding dress.

Cas had not been sure what to go as so they settled with covering him in fake blood and giving him rotting skin on his face. Refusing to wear anything ripped, they had taken his trenchcoat and splattered it with more fake blood that would of course wash out.

"Hey, you almost ready to go?" Gabriel stood in the doorway with an extremely scary clown mask pulled on top of his head.

"Almost done," said Anna.

"OK. It's just that Dean's in the driveway and it's nearly 5 and we still have to pick up Balthazar, Jo and Meg before every house runs out of candy."

"Alright. We're coming." Anna stood up with the sponge still in her hand and pushed the wig out of her eyes.

"Selfie?" She asked. Gabriel sighed.

"Fine. But if it goes wrong, I'm not posing for another." He pulled his mask over his eyes and they stood close, waiting for the light to signal they could move again. A honk came from outside.

"OK. Dean's getting annoyed. Let's go."

Dean was outside in the front seat, leaning on the wheel. He was dressed as frankenstein with stitches drawn on his neck and his face painted a pale green.

"Took you long enough. Hey Anna." He winked at her. "Cas, get in the front seat. You two, squidge in the back. First stop, Balthazar's."

They drove down the road, stopping for a group of 7 year olds dressed as princesses, draculas and bats. The sky was darkening already and a few pumpkins were out.

They arrived in the more expensive district of town and Dean stopped the car in front of number 9, big but nowhere near as big as Lily's. Balthazar came running out in a matching outfit to Gabriel down to every last detail with an enormous basket for candy.

"Hello Cassie," he said in his English accent as he squeezed into the backseat. Apparently, the Talbots had moved from London, three years ago although they still had not lost their strong accents.

"Meg's next."

Five more minutes and they were outside Meg 's apartment. Cas and her had been going out for three weeks now and much to Cas' disappointment, the whole school knew. A few people teased him about it but most said things like "Good for you," before hurrying off to their classes.

Cas walked up to the door, feeling embarrassed for how he was dressed, and pressed the bell for Meg. He saw a shadow moving behind the door and it opened a crack so that just her face was visible.

"DO NOT say a word," she said in an irritated tone, then opened it the whole way revealing her costume. He choked back a laugh.

Meg was wearing a short, black top, barely more than a bra, that showed off her flat stomach. She wore a matching, black mini skirt and high heels. She had enormous, black feathered wings and her black rose pin secured in her hair.

"Over the weekend, I was busy so I asked Ruby if she could buy me a costume and this is what she got me. If you say a word, I will slit your throat and rip your heart out with my own hands."

"OK. No need to be so dramatic." Sometimes, she slightly scared him.

"Oh baby, I wasn't being dramatic. I will literally do that."

"So you're all um... good again? Did you get invited to Lily's party?"

"Actually, Lily's not having a party. Her mom and dad got back after the last one and found three vodka bottles in the trash and apparently Theo stayed in her bedroom over night and was still there in the morning. So, long story short, she won't be having anymore parties in a while."

"What are they coming as? Lily, Abby and Ruby, I mean?"

"I'm glad you asked. Ruby's going as a cat. Abby is a sexy nurse and Lily's a sexy devil. Honestly, if you took a shot every time you see a white girl dressed as cat."

"Are your parents home tonight?"

Meg suddenly looked nervous.

"Er no. They're out of town. We should get going." She began to walk towards the car. Cas looked puzzled. Was it just him or did it seem like Meg had been trying to change the subject?

"OK, this time you're in the back, Cas. Meg can sit on you." Dean grinned at them and Cas glared as the squeezed into the back with the other three.

"Hey Meg," Dean said. "You look like an angel."

Meg smiled sweetly at him.

"Hey Dean. I'm assuming you and Jo are having an argument?"

"N-no," stammered Dean.

"Well I can't think of any other reason why you would be flirting with other girls, unless you've become a slut."

Dean looked shocked.

"Yes, Meg," said Balthazar, giving her a high five.

"Right, just Jo left to pick up," said Dean, ignoring them.

Jo lived round the back of a local country bar named the Roadhouse. Her mom, Ellen, owned it and Jo sometimes worked there as a waitress. None of them were allowed inside so Dean honked and Jo came running out with blonde hair flowing behind her. Her dress was black and Cas noticed she was wearing plastic fangs. She sat in the front seat next to Dean and kissed his cheek.

"Hey vampire princess," he said.

Dean drove them to the most populated area of town where he parked them next to a couple of 10 year olds dressed as witches and one taller girl in a cape.

"Hey guys," she called as they climbed out. It was Charlie. Cas did not know her that well because she was not in many of his classes but she seemed nice. He looked her up and down.

"What have you come as?" He asked curiously.

"Oh. I'm a Hobbit, see. I'm taking my cousins trick or treating. Can we join you?"

"Sure," said Cas before anyone else could answer. She came and stood in between him and Meg.

"Whoah. Nice costume Meg." She nodded to herself.

"Hey Charlie." It was Dean.

"I haven't talked to you in a while." The way he was looking at her was almost like she was his little sister. There was a silence between them and then Dean turned to them.

"Right. Who wants candy?"

The group of now ten headed for the first house where plastic skeletons hung in the window. Gabriel rang the doorbell and the door was opened for them. A woman in her forties with a six year old at her side held a bowl out to them. She gave a disapproving look at Meg and handed them each a candy bar, Meg's being smallest. Then she slammed the door in their faces. They carried on for an hour more, collecting roughly 30 different treats next. By then, most houses were out.

"Well," said Charlie. "Time for me to go." She took her cousins' hands.

"Later bitches."

At this point, Dean ushered them all into the car. With their baskets of chocolates, there was barely enough room and Gabriel was considering attaching Meg and Cas to the roof so they could make out without anyone noticing, when Dean drove off, not caring how comfortable anyone was.

As they arrived back at the Milton house, Amy appeared at the door to greet them.

"I laid out some dinner for you and I found some horror movies for you to watch. Gabriel, I don't mind if your friends stay over night."

"She seems nice," said Meg.

"She does seem nice but just hope that the food she laid out for us isn't the water pasta. It's literally uncooked pasta with a water sauce."

"Yeah, I got that. Anyway, I had a great time." She put her arms on his shoulders and they kissed with his hand caught in her hair. Gabriel and Balthazar both ooohed at once.

"Can we get inside?" Asked Dean. "It's friggin' freezing out here."

"You don't have to go round dressed like this," moaned Meg. "Anna, do you have any clothes I can borrow?"

"Of course," Anna answered.

As they walked in a line past Amy, she whispered in Cas' ear.

"So this is your little friend. I'll stay out of your way."

As they got in, Meg went up with Anna to get changed and to most of their relief, the food was takeaway pizza. Dean reached inside his basket and pulled his hand out empty.

"Son of a bitch. Gabriel, did you take my candy?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Gabriel, revealing his basket which was had twice as much as everyone else's

"It doesn't mattar," Jo said, pulling out her fangs.

"We can share them all."

Balthazar sorted through the DVDs while eating a milk dud, stopping and holding up Insideous.

"I suggest we watch this." At that point, Meg came downstairs wearing a pair of Anna's jeans and a wooly jumper.

"This feels more natural," she said. She looked at Balthazar.

"Insideous. Cool." Then, she planted herself on the sofa beside Cas.

"So, who wants to start watching?"

Half an hour into the movie, Dean looked practically asleep, Anna was screaming and Cas was unsure what he thought yet. Gabriel and Balthazar who had eaten most of the pizza, now seemed to be writing out plans, silently for a new prank. Meg was watching over their shoulders.

"Someone please stop the movie."

Jo pressed the pause button.

"OK," said Meg. "Guys, you need better pranks than these. All they're gonna do is get us into trouble. Look, think bigger scale. And you're gonna need more than just the two of you. We should all join together, have a pranking gang."

"That's actually a good idea," said Gabriel.

"With Cas' brains, Dean's skills, Anna's planning, Meg's leadership, our experience and Jo's uh...whatever, we could have even the teachers respecting us."

"Uh yeah no thanks," said Jo. "It's just, I don't really have time. I go to too many clubs as it is."

"Well I think it's a great idea," said Dean and the others began to agree with him.

"But what should we call ourselves?" Everyone thought for a moment.

"Team AnnDeanGabThazarMegStiel," suggested Anna.

"Oh come on. That's too long."

"Team Kickass?" asked Gabriel.

"No, God please no," said Meg. She began to mime praying.

"Team Free Will. You know, free will from school." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Really, isn't that a little cheesy? I think we should go with my suggestion," Gabriel said.

"Well I think Team Free Will sounds good. We're not friggin' superheroes. I'm not gonna be go round calling ourselves Team Kickass." Meg got up.

And so, Team Free Will was born.


	8. Chapter 8

The first meeting of Team Free Will was at Dean's house so after school on 2nd November, the six of them headed over there. It was near the outskirts of Lawrence, the type of area with most of the farms and quite a distance from the school so Dean attempted to squash them all into his car like they did on Halloween, except with one less. As they drove down an almost empty road, the sun began to set, casting shades of pink and orange across the sky.

"Beautiful," Meg whispered in Cas' ear. Her breath was warm on his skin and she had tied her hair back. It fell in curls on her shoulders, the color of chocolate.

"We're here," Dean called to them, stepping out the car.

Cas surveyed their house. It was average size, maybe a bit bigger than the Miltons with a tree growing outside with spindly branches. Dean led them in a line towards the front door, coated in peeling paint and twisted one of his keys in the lock.

"Sammy, I'm home."

A small boy who looked to be about 10 but Cas knew was actually 12, rushed in with a book in one hand. He was skinny with long, dark brown hair and Dean's green eyes. He had a look that showed he had a lot more wisdom than most boys his age should have.

"Sammy, these are my friends. This is Cas, Meg, Gabriel, Balthazar and Anna."

"Hi," said Meg. She shook his tiny hand.

"We should go to my room," said Dean. "Bye Sam." He took them up the creaking staircase. An older man who Cas assumed must be Dean's dad, came out of a bedroom with dark bags under his eyes, red from crying.

"Dean, are these your friends?"

"Yes dad."

"Well I'm going to go out for a few hours. When they're gone, can you make Sam his dinner." There was a shake in his voice.

"Yes sir."

They all passed Mr Winchester, mumbling hellos and went to Dean's room where rock band posters decorated the walls, mostly Led Zeppelin.

"I didn't know you were into this old stuff Dean."

"Was your dad OK?" Anna asked.

"He's fine. It's just...now's a difficult time for him. You see, our mom died in a fire exactly 12 years ago so he's feeling pretty depressed about it."

"I'm sorry," Meg offered.

"Yeah, well these things happen. Anyway, who's hungry? I've got some M and Ms somewhere."

He rustled around under his bed and withdrew a yellow pack.

"Peanut butter." Gabriel immediately went for a handful.

The meeting went on for an hour and a half in which time, they came up with no pranks. Mostly they just ate the m and ms while Anna chatted constantly. And then, Dean said he had to make Sammy's dinner and sent them all away.

Cas began to make his way out when Meg tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you going home already? It's only 5.30."

He stopped and turned around.

"Why, what did you want to do?"

"Well, actually, I've been working on a new thing. I thought, maybe we could go back to my apartment, order some pizza and maybe you could listen."

He hesitated, wondering if Amy would worry but then turned down these thoughts.

"So how will we get there?"

"There's a bus that goes from here, all the way to center of town. If we're quick, we could make it.

They took each others' hands, hers warm while his was cold and clammy. They reached the bus stop but the bus was already there. They jumped between the closing doors, standing panting and giggling in front of the slightly scared looking driver. They payed and squeezed their way to the back, still laughing histerically, causing a few elderly passengers to move away.

"That was fun," Meg said, and then pulled out her mobile to call the pizza restaurant.

"One large margherita," she told the man on the phone and then began to give her address.

They arrived at the Masters apartment just before 6.

"We still have a good 20 minutes before the food arrives. I can show you my song."

They made their way up the stairs to her now familiar apartment.

"Your parents still not here?" He asked as there was no sign they had been in a while.

"Uh, yeah. They're always really busy. I expect it's like that with your family too. I heard Rich Milton is a priest. He must hardly ever be there either."

"True. So what have you been working on?"

"Well it's this song I found. I don't know what it's called but just listen." She handed him her purple headphones which he slipped on. The melody was full of life, surely just a feel good song but a beautifully smooth, woman's voice aaahed over the tune.

"That's me singing!," she shouted over the music.

He paused it.

"That's you? You're...amazing!"

"Eh, not really."

"You should join the glee club."

"Do I look like the type of person who joins a glee club?"

He considered this for a moment.

"No." Suddenly, he noticed a sheet of paper lying on the coffee table. Beautiful angel wings, black with red tips, were drawn on it.

"What's this?"

"I know I'm a crappy artist. It's if I could get a tattoo. I designed it myself. I'd get them on my back to represent that I'm like some dark angel or something. That would be if I could get enough money to get a tattoo done or if I were old enough, I'm not sure if I am, or if I didn't think they were disgusting."

An idea popped into his head.

"I can draw them on for you."

He expected her to say no to this but instead she looked up.

"With what?"

"I have these pens. They're specifically meant for drawing on skin since so many little kids do it. I think it lasts like a month." He pulled a black and a red from his bag. She lifted up her lilac t-shirt, revealing the bottom of her black lace bra and he began to draw the spirals of wings coming from her shoulder blades. He could not help but notice a scar on the skin over her spine, silvery and mostly faded but still visible.

"So Cas. We've been together almost a month. Most high school relationships don't last that long. I must really like you."

"Or you're just doing it for a dare."

She let out a little giggle. "Oh God, you're not are you?"

"You won't believe how many people have asked me that."

"Am I really that awful to date?"

"No. I guess people just think you're shy. But you're moving up. You're best friends with Dean friggin' Winchester."

"You can talk about moving up. You joined Lily's gang." He brushed her hair from her eyes and started on the second wing.

"How did you join them anyway?"

"Pretty much the plot of Mean Girls. I was new and in my first few days, they asked me to sit with them. I figure it was better than eating in the bathroom so, naturally, I sit with them. I thought, for once, I wouldn't be the freak. Eventually, I got tired of the slutty Halloween costumes and boyfriends and having to wear pink on certain days. It's good to hang out with you guys sometimes. Team Free Will."

"OK, finished," Cas said, pulling her top back down.

Meg smiled.

"My unicorn. Why are you always so sweet on me?"

"I have low standards."

She kissed his forehead and the doorbell rang.

"That will be the pizza."

She rushed downstairs, bringing a warm and large box up, seconds later. She laid it out on the coffee table and opened it and the tomato smell hit him like a tidal wave.

"Dig in," she said and that's exactly what they did. Within minutes, the entire pizza was devoured. When they were done, they sat back, Meg with her arm around Cas.

"I'm so full. You mind if I play some music?"

She pulled out keyboard.

"You can play?"

"Yeah. Wanna hear a song?"

"Sure, wait, one thing." He took out his mobile.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking a picture. Anna does it all the time although hers are mostly selfies."

"Oh very hipster." She pretended to be playing and he caught it.

"Great." He had a very good idea for this photo.

For the next half an hour, they played songs with Cas singing along which he was pretty awful at. When the were done, he glanced at the clock.

"7. I don't have to be back, until 10. Want to watch a movie?"

"OK."

They searched through her many stacks of DVDs for something suitable until Meg held up Mean Girls.

"Since it was the topic of discussion. You don't mind do you? I mean, it's hardly romantic."

So they sat down with Meg's head resting on his shoulder. They were exactly 37 minutes in when Meg began gently snoring.

Smiling, Cas switched off the TV and dragged a blanket over her, again brushing her chocolatey brown hair from her face and kissing her goodnight in the cheek.

As he began to make his way out, he noticed that the door to the adult bedroom was open and peered inside. It was all very ordinary, a double bed, a wardrobe, a bedside table but there were no photos, no posters, no books like her parents had no history or interests. It was almost like whoever stayed in this room had no soul or that no one stayed in here at all.


	9. Chapter 9

As November dragged on, the days grew shorter and walks home from school, much to Cas and Meg's disappointment, had to be replaced with rides in Dean or Gabriel's car. The sky began to darken no later than 4.30 and a chill sprang up in the air. Windows were lined with prize turkeys, some as long as their legs.

It was on the Wednesday before they got the long weekend off for Thanksgiving, that the high school had to go and watch the middle school's Thanksgiving production, with little Sammy standing in the background, singing quietly. Team Free Will, minus Gabriel and Balthazar who had agreed to help out with sound, had grabbed seats on thw balcony. Up there, they could do anything they wanted without getting into trouble. Anna took selfies, Cas sketched the four of them exactly how they were then, Meg had her headphones on and a quiet, tinny noise could be heard if you listened closely. The only one watching was Dean, smiling at his little brother as the 6th and 7th grades gathered at the front for a song. Sam held hands with a pretty girl with curly, blonde hair, Jessica Moore, Dean knew her name was.

Meg seemed to be smirking.

"What's so funny?" asked Dean.

"Watch," she whispered.

At that moment, the sweet background music that had been playing in the background cut off. There was a moment of slight confusion and then suddenly, music cam back on but it was not the same song. Instead, Blurred Lines played out of speakers which Gabriel and Balthazar were in charge of. A few boys started laughing, Cas could see Ash getting up and dancing.

Principal Deville got out of his chair and began to make his way towards the pair, his white suit standing out in the crowd.

"Meg, was this your idea?" Dean was unable to hide the amusement in his voice, despite this being his brother's play.

Meg gave a mischievous nod.

"Come on. We'd better get out of here. The bell should go in about 10 minutes anyway."

The four of them sneaked out of the door and towards the school gates, laughing when they were finally out.

"That was close," said Anna. "Eventually Principal Deville would have connected that back to us."

"Well Gabriel and Balthazar are obviously going to be kept back. Can I give you all a lift home?" asked Dean.

"No thanks," said Meg. "I've got to stop at the supermarket for our turkey."

"Well see you on Monday then. A lift would be good though Dean. It's getting cold," said Anna.

____________________

Amy was cooking turkey as they walked in.

"Hello Cas, Anna. Where's your brother?"

"He got kept behind. A prank during the middle school play. Mom, why are you cooking the turkey now? It doesn't have to be ready until tomorrow evening," said Anna.

"Well I need to be prepared. We have a lot of people coming tomorrow. Which reminds me Cas, dear. Would you want to invite your little friend, Meg over for the dinner?"

"I don't know. I think she might be eating with her family." He thought about it. Would her parents be back from work. It seemed like they were almost constantly on holiday.

"I'll call her and check."

He rushed up to his bedroom, now very different to how it had been 3 months ago. Posters for Bastille, the Killers, Fall Out Boy among the many selfies him and Anna had taken together. She had insisted on him taping up a few of his sketches as well. He'd bought a carpet in a shade of darker blue than the walls and his bookshelves were stacked with a range of his favorite books.

His phone lay charging and flashing on the desk and he picked it up. Three missed calls from Rachel. He had been calling her less now, busy with coursework and meeting up with Meg and Dean. Now it was close to Winter, ice cream was not the best idea so instead, they went to a small coffee shop, where they had the best warm drinks.

He dialled in Meg's number and waited. When it had rung three times, she picked up.

"Hey Cas, what's up?" He could hear music playing faintly in the background.

"Well Amy wanted to know if you wanted to come round for thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and I'm guessing your parents are coming so just checking."

"Um yeah, they are coming. But it will probably be just a small thing. I could try and get out of it. One more day of together time won't hurt them. I'll text you if I can come."

"Bye then."

"Bye."

She hung up and he stuffed the phone into his pocket and made his way back downstairs where Gabriel was walking lazily in through the door.

"Thanks for waiting for me bro," he said, looking slightly angry. "We have a week staying behind after school as a punishment. You're gonna pay for this." When he saw Cas look of horror, he smiled. "Hey, I was only joking. Anyway, ready for 24 hours of doing nothing but cooking. Mom gets really anxious around this time. Later." He gave a sort of half wave and made his way upstairs.

Cas's phone buzzed in his pocket. One new text from Meg.

**b there @ 6**

**Meg xxx**

He smiled and texted her back.

**OK but DO NOT eat anything tomorrow**

**Amy has already started cooking**

**Cas xxxx**

Then he ran to the kitchen where Amy was no rushing from oven to cooker to table while Rich tried to calm her down.

"Meg can come," he told her when he'd finally got her attention.

"Oh, that's wonderful news."

He began to leave the room.

"Wait, Cas dear, would you mind getting the sweet potatoes from the refridgerator?"

"Of course not," he said although he clearly would.

He grabbed a few and took them to the table where he began peeling. Gabriel was right. This was going to be a long 24 hours.

____________________

As the clock over the kitchen table struck 5 minutes past 6, the doorbell rang. Amy had forced Gabriel and Cas into suits, not the type you wear at weddings, far less smart, and Anna wore a strangely casual looking, orange dress to go with her hair.

Cas rushed to answer it but Amy was there first. She undid all the locks and pulle it open to reveal a nervous looking Meg in a black skirt and pale blue top. Her make up was very light and her necklace was different to her usual one, diamond shaped and expensive looking. It looked like she was trying to pull off the innocent girl act which obviously would not work on Amy as she had seen Meg's Halloween costume but possibly for Anna and Gabriel and now his grandparents. This was his first time meeting them too because they lived in Washington.

"Hello Meg. Good to see you again." Amy hugged her warmly. She seemed fond of her despite Halloween.

"Hello Mrs Milton," Meg said shyly. So she was trying the innocent girl act.

"Thank you for inviting me."

"It was my pleasure. Cas here must likes you a lot. He's always drawing you and round at your house.

Cas felt his cheeks grow warm.

"Cas, take her to the dining room. My mother should be here soon."

"So Meg, what do your parents do for a living?" Amy's mom, Katherine, sat opposite Meg, chewing slowly on the turkey. She was a short woman with greying hair and even more questioning than Amy. For the last half an hour, she had been interrogating both Meg and Cas with no stop.

"Well my dad, he works with a big chain of banks and the main bank is in New York so um, he's a way a lot." She looked away.

"And your mother?" Katherine asked.

"She's a graphic designer. A marketing company and they often have conferences. But she's back now."

"And you say that you're Castiel's ladyfriend?"

Cas sighed angrily. He had spoken to her a few times, over the phone and she still refused ot call him by his nickname.

"Katherine, I think we should talk about something else," said her husband, Edward.

"No, I think that this is a good topic of discussion," said Gabriel, sarcastically. "How about I ask one? Meg, Cas, have you reached third base yet?"

"OK Gabriel, that's enough," said Anna.

"No, let's carry on talking about this."

Meg turned to him.

"Kali," she said with a little smile. "How about we talk about that, huh Gabriel?"

"Gabe? Who's Kali?" Amy's expression turned stern.

"Hey, you know what's interesting. Did you know that a cat has 72 muscles in its face?" Gabriel was trying to change the conversation.

Meg sat back in her chair.

"Well, I'm full."

"That's a shame, sweetie," Amy said. "I made some chocolate cake.

"Well I hate to be rude but I'd better go. I said I'd be home by 9."

"Oh that's fine. Cas, take her to the door." Amy spoke over her mom's reluctance.

She stood up and he began to lead her out, towards the doorway.

"Look, I'm really sorry about that," he said when they were out of earshot.

"I hadn't met Katherine before and if I had I would've_"

"Cas, stop. It's all fine. Some people are just born like that. All...old fashioned."

"Yeah, incredibly old fashioned." He put on a high pitched voice. "So Meg. You say you are Castiel's ladyfriend?"

The two of them burst into laughter.

"Yes. Well your mom's really nice and her food's great."

"I look forward to meeting your mom. Maybe I can come tomorrow."

"Actually, tomorrow's very busy so probably not."

"What about Saturday?"

"They're leaving again on Saturday."

"Meg, I've had enough of this." His voice raised slightly.

"You've had enough of what?"

"You, always lying about your parents. Why don't you want me to meet them?" He could feel his anger getting through his wall. Meg kept trying to cut in but he stopped her.

"Is it because you're too embarrassed by them?"

"No, no, it's just_"

"Just what? Please stop lying." He felt so awful about all of this.

"I'm not lying," she said, calmly and firmly.

"My parents work a lot and that's the truth." Her dark eyes met with his.

"Alright." He decided to let it go even though he knew she was lying or at least not telling him the whole truth.

"Goodnight Clarence," she said and left without a kiss or even a hug.

He stood by the doorway for a few seconds, pondering what could be so awful that she had to keep it from him. Then, he turned and ran up the stairs without saying goodbye to any of the relatives. He tore a sheet of paper and scribbled frantically, unable to stop. And when he finally put down his pencil, he gasped at what he had drawn. A girl sitting alone in a room, covered in blood and looking terrified. And that girl was Meg.


	10. Chapter 10

Over the next two weeks, the couple seemed to have either forgotten or forgiven about the argument. Meg and Cas, Megstiel as Dean had started to call it, were still together. Cas had thrown away his drawing. Even though, it was just a drawing, it had sent a chill up his spine, every time he looked at it. He now just felt bad for whoever sorted through the Milton's trash. Most of the school were over Gabriel and Balthazar's prank although Principal Deville was still keeping a close eye on them. But now, on the last day of school before Christmas, teachers were catching flu along with half their grade so that all the remaining students joined together in one Art lesson with the Ms Tongson where they had to make Christmas cards for each other. Cas already had presents for each of his friends including an amazing one for Meg. Their idea was to give them out after school today, round at the Milton house.

Meg picked up the silver glitter. She had less enthusiasm than anyone else in the room. She shook and it and it exploded everywhere, including over him.

"Meg," he groaned at her, chucking a handful of glitter back at her.

"Hey. I'm going to be washing that out of my hair for a month."

She grabbed the glue and began to take off ythe leg when the Mrs Tongson came over.

"How old are you?" she said, addressing both of them.

"16," Meg said and Cas echoed her.

"Really! Because the way you're behaving now, I'd think you were 5!" She had to shout over the Christmas carols that the class insisted were played in every lesson.

Ash, sitting opposite them, held back a laugh, turning it into a cough. Meg glared.

"Well, I've finished mine," said Meg, ignoring Ash. She handed him the card with a Christmas tree drawn bon the front.

"I told you, I'm a crappy artist. But here you go anyway."

"Thanks." He stuffed it carefully into the front pocket of his backpack.

Meg glanced up at the clock on the back wall. Since it was the last day, they finished at 12.

"We've got 2 minutes," Meg announced to everyone sitting around them.

"I'm going to pack up my stuff." She began to put away pencils while Cas listened to Ash count down the seconds. He stared at the work on the walls, paintings, pencil drawings and charcoals. Somehow, everyone of them turned into his drawing, the one of Meg. He tore his eyes away.

The bell rang and everyone ran out with no time to listen to Ms Tongson's goodbyes to them. Cas was squashed in between Dean and Meg and just leaving when Ms Tongson called him back.

"Cas, do you mind if I have a word with you?"

He turned to Meg who nodded.

"I'll wait for you outside," she said.

Ms Tongson ran her fingers over the desktop.

"Cas, I just wanted to tell you that your work this term has been wonderful. I expect great things from you and I have strong beliefs that you will go into a career in art or design."

"Thank you miss," he said.

"I know you probably think this isn't a big deal," she said, although it was to him. "That you think I say this to every student. Well, I don't because you are possibly one of the best students I've ever had." He nodded but she wasn't finished.

"However, something has been bothering you recently and affecting your work and well...I'm worried. Is there anything you would like to tell me?"

He considered telling her for a moment, telling her about the drawings and getting the weight off his shoulders but stopped himself. She shouldn't have to worry about his imaginary problems.

"No," he lied.

"Well if you do change your mind, you can always come to my office and tell me. Merry Christmas."

He went over to Meg and Dean and they began to make their way outside.

Strangely, a thin layer of snow decorated the school grounds, glittering in the sunlight.

Cas, feeling temptation, made a ball of snow and threw it at the back of Meg's neck. Her head twisted round almost straight away.

"I'll get you for that!" She picked up a handful of snow and tossed it. He tried to run away but she caught him and he was knocked over, face down in the cold.

"You're dead," he yelled and got her right in the face, dodging another one from her. As he began to run away, she caught him by the back of his hood.

"Is it warm in there because someone's about to turn off the heating," she teased, ready to stuff a lump of snow down his back. He took a firm step, trying to drag himself out of her grasp and slipped in the ice, taking Meg down with him. She landed flat on top of him with her face up against his. She was warm, despite the freezing temperature. The snow was in his eyes but he could feel her smiling against his skin.

"I love you," she whispered and gently kissed his cheek.

"Hey, are you two lovebirds coming? Balthazar and Gabriel are gonna beat us there."

Meg began to get up, steadier herself with the ground. Her hands were now red from the cold and she shook them to get the circulation going. A crowd had gathered including the mean girls. Abby was laughing, Ruby had her head tilted to one side like it was the sweetest thing she had ever seen and Lily just looked plain jealous.

"Merry Christmas Meg, Cas," Ruby said sweetly and began to leave.

"Yeah, Merry Christmas." Lily's voice oozed with sarcasm.

"That girl has serious problems," said Dean when they were gone. "Are they letting you hang out with them again?"

Meg groaned.

"Ruby and Abby are but Lily still has some grudge against me."

Dean unlocked the car.

"OK guys, no sex on the back seat. I don't mind a little making out but that's as far as I'll go."

Cas punched him in the arm but Meg had a sassy comment.

"And I suppose that rule doesn't apply to you and Jo?"

Dean, annoyed with her, turned his rock music up as loud as it would go.

"Dean, what century are you from?"

"House rules. Driver picks music, shotgun shuts her cakehole."

"I'm not shotgun, though."

"I'M SORRY! I CAN'T HEAR YOU! THE MUSIC!"

They drove along with Dean singing along in his loudest and most out of tune voice.

**___________________**

They arrived with Gabriel's car parked outside.

"Ha, we got here first. In your faces!"

They ignored him and began to walk past.

"Oh come on Dean. High five? Cas, high five. No? Mmmeeeg, best friend Meg. High five?"

She punched his shoulder.

"Ow?" he said like it were a question.

Dean pushed the door which was already open and walked into the cream and green house. Anna, who had claimed she had the flu this morning, seemed fully recovered and was sitting on the bottom step with silver tinsel wrapped around her head and matching bauble earrings. She clutched a bundle of presents to her chest and as they passed her, she handed out christmas head accessories; santa hats, elf hats and reindeer antlers.

As they made their way to the living room, lead proudly by Anna, Cas adjusted his antlers and sat down in their circle of six, in between Meg with a bright red santa hat and Anna.

"So, we all have presents for each other so...how about we start with Gabriel?"

Everyone handed over their different sized packages.

"OK, a box of candy canes. Who's that from?"

"Oh. Me." Meg raised her hand.

"A box of chocolates, this one says from Dean."

He moved on to the third.

"Thanks Cas." He held up a book of 100 chocolate recipes.

"Balthazar, what's this?"

"It's a shark tooth." Balthazar sat back proudly.

Gabriel began to feel the last gift.

"Anna, a book? Really?"

"Just open it."

He tore of the wrapping paper, patterned with Christmas trees.

"What is it?"

"A Team Free Will scrapbook. I got a few photos of us already. You can fill it with more over the next few years. Here, let's take one now." She held her phone in front of their faces and pressed, capturing them all dressed Christmassy.

"I'll print that off for you. Let's move on to Balthazar."

Balthazar got a v-necked shirt from Anna, a v-necked shirt from Gabriel, a v-necked shirt from Dean, a v-necked shirt from Meg and a v-necked shirt from Cas.

"Oh, you all remembered how much I like v-necked shirts.

Anna's presents were a new camera from Cas, a winter hat from Meg, "a mini guitar", what Dean called it, from him, a set of boots from Gabriel and a Christmas jumper from Balthazar since she was in the "Holiday spirit".

Meg gave Dean an ACDC album and Anna gave him a toy replica of his car. Cas gave him a book of 1001 rock songs to listen to before you die, Balthazar bought him a pie cookery book. But Gabriel's gift was most shocking.

"Dr Sexy MD. The complete first season? Gabriel, what's this about?"

"You love Dr Sexy. Jo told me."

"Son of a bitch,' Dean replied.

"OK, onto Cas." Anna interrupted their small argument.

"Here you go, Cas. Merry Christmas." Dean handed him a present in the shape of a DVD with red wrapping paper.

"A porn DVD. What a...thoughtful gift Dean."

He tossed it away.

"What did you get me, Anna?" he asked, unwrapping her gift.

"A new sketchpad," she answered. "You're using up your old one."

"Well I got you hair gel," Gabriel said. "Use a bit to spike up your hair everyday and you'll have all the girls after you. Maybe you can get a better girlfriend than warrior princess over here." He pointed to Meg.

"I got you a new t-shirt. I'd rather see you in something else than those hoodies for once and this seemed just right."

Cas ripped off the paper to find a navy blue t-shirt with a strange pattern on.

"You're welcome," he said, sounding very over the top english.

"And last, mine." Meg gave him a parcel wrapped in tissue paper. It was soft, obviously clothes. He opened it and unfolded the fabric.

"A unicorn onesie for my unicorn. Merry Christmas, Clarence."

"Who's Clarence?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Ooooooohh," said Gabriel and Balthazar.

"Can we move on? Meg, I got you a friendship bracelet like mine." Anna showed her left wrist which had a green and light blue threads twisted together into a bracelet. Meg's was the same shape but dark blue and violet.

Gabriel handed her another parcel which she proceeded to unwrap.

Meg gave him a confused look. "A knife? Are you kidding? Don't tell me you think I'm some kind of psychopath."

"Well I _do,_ but it's plastic, see?" He demonstrated by bouncing it against the palm of his hand. "And I only got it because it was the only thing from my pranks set I wouldn't mind giving away."

"I'm flattered," said Meg as she tossed it to the side.

"Well I got you a new leather jacket," said Balthazar. It was bright red unlike her other, dark colored ones.

"What about you Dean?"

"Well I got her the new Awolnation album."

"Oh my God! Dean, thank you so much. I've wanted this for ages."

"I'm not really the huggie type but I don't mind an exceptio_"

"And now time for the present from the boyfriend."

"Cas, if this isn't good, she could dump you."

"Thanks for the support," Cas replied.

Meg pulled her present out of the carefully sealed box.

"A CD?" she said.

"Read what it says," Cas told her.

She began to read out loud.

"Meg Masters: Different. Her number one best selling album. Cas, you made a CD for me?"

"No, just the cover. You can put your own songs on though."

She covered her eyes.

"You hate it?"

"No, no. I love it." She hugged him.

"Aw, group hug," said Balthazar, and he joined them, followed by the rest. They stood like that for a good 10 seconds before Dean asked:

"So, who wants to watch a movie?"

"Yeah," Anna replied. "Let's watch Titanic. It's one of my favorite movies."

Balthazar groaned.

"What?"

"It's just that, it's such a stupid movie."

Anna pulled the most shocked face.

"And that song by Celine Dionne. I really hate that song."

"Well, should we have a vote?"

"I vote no. No no no no no."

"I say yes. But I'm just saying yes because I know all the girls want to watch it."

"You want to watch it don't you Dean?"

"You could say that."

"I've never seen it," said Meg. "I've heard good things about it and I wouldn't mind. "

Everyone looked to Cas.

"I don't really mind."

"Gabe, what about you?" Anna asked.

"Um OK. Yeah, why not?"

"Great, so it looks like we're watching Titanic."

"Noooooooo!" Balthazar screamed, dramatically.

In the end, four of them squashed up on the green sofa while Anna sat on a green beanbag, staring at the screen with delight. Balthazar lay on the floor, trying to fall asleep and failing. The whole way through, Gabriel was eating a candy cane, holding it like a microphone, and the movie seemed to excite Dean.

Cas, on the other hand, thought it was interesting at first but once it had been on for over an hour, he started to get bored. Meg rested her head on his shoulder. Dean was gently humming the tune to the song beside him.

When it was finally finished after 3 long hours, Balthazar clapped.

"Hooray, it's over."

Anna gave him the most shocked look.

"But didn't you cry at the end?"

"Cry? Oh yeah I did cry. I cried tears of happiness when it was ended."

"Jerk," she said back to him under her breath.

"OK, well I thought that that Jack was pretty hot." said Meg. "But, it's getting pretty late so we'd all better go."

"Meg, help me out. Don't you think it was awful?" Balthazar asked.

"I'm not getting involved in this. It's funnier watching you arguing. Merry Christmas."


	11. Chapter 11

"Dean, are you OK?" Cas walked up to Dean, unravelling his new scarf, his Christmas present from Katherine. Dean leaned against his locker with a sad expression on his face.

"Have a bad Christmas?" asked Meg, coming from behind him.

"Well, yeah, but that's not what this is about. Jo dumped me."

The other two stood in stunned silence.

"Wait. _She_ dumped _you_?"

"Well she sent me a text saying _it's over_."

"Now you know how it feels," said Meg, smugly.

Cas looked angrily at her. "You're not helping. Do you know why?"

"No. I guess she's busy or something."

They began to make their way to their form room where Lily stood leaning against the wall and chatting to Lisa.

"Did you hear? Dean made out with Anna at over the holidays."

Dean had obviously overheard.

"You bitch. That's a load of bullshit! You know I didn't."

"Yeah, well actually it's true because Abby saw it."

"Stop making up rumors about me. I'd punch you but it would be a waste."

"Let me handle this." Meg pushed him out of the way.

"Hey Lily, you know we can tell when you're lying."

"How?"

"Well all we've got to do is wait for your lips to move."

Lisa snapped her fingers behind Lily's back.

"In fact, why don't you say something smart. Shock me."

Lily tried to interrupt her but she wasn't finished.

"You know, you wear all that make up but it can't hide how much of a spoilt bitch you are."

People were turning their heads now. When she'd stopped speaking, a few people clapped but most were just too afraid.

The group of four, now including Anna who had just arrived, sat down.

"Hey Cas, Dean." Meg leaned over to them.

"Team Free Will meeting after school at my house. Balthazar and I have a really great idea for a prank."

"What is it?" Cas asked but at that point, Mr Crowley walked in with the register under his arm and Meg put a finger to her lip.

"OK everyone. We have literally the best plan for a prank. It's only small but it means we should be able to get revenge on Lily."

"So what is?" asked Gabriel, rising his hand and relaxing onto the sofa.

"Basically, Balthazar invites everyone in the 11th and 12th grade over for a party, including Lily."

Balthazar took over.

"I have a friend, he's a few years older than me but looks your age and he is mildly attractive. His name's Jake. He's an actor."

"Anyway, we're gonna need Charlie. We'll get Jake and Lily talking then he'll leave."

"Basically, we have these posters on the wall. They're memorials to people who've died so we make one for him. Lily's bound to see it. She'll panic maybe ask people if they've seen him and we'll all say no. Our house has security cameras so we'll ask Charlie to cut him out of the frames leaving just her. She'll think she's going crazy.."

"You were right. It is very small," said Anna.

"Hey. We had to go through a lot of preparing for this as well as checking if Charlie wanted to help and Balthazar now has to get ready for a party," argued Meg.

"So when is this party gonna be?"

"Friday, 7 o clock," Balthazar answered.

"That's two days away."

"It doesn't matter. Bela can help. She has parties all the time. We'll sort it out."

**____________________**

"So, second party of the year. Must feel pretty good you're so popular." Meg led Cas up to Balthazar's house. Compared to Lily's party, his was just a small one but plenty of people had still come. Tonight, Meg had straightened her heair and she wore a floaty, blue shirt with her friendship bracelet from Anna.

"Hey, I had a question to ask you."

"Yeah, sure. Ask away."

You looked concerned for him.

"On the last day before Christmas, Ms Tongson kept you behind and I heard some of what she said. Something's troubling you, I've noticed too."

This was the question he had been dreading. Over the holidays, he'd spent time in his room, sketching. Sketching things from nightmares. Lily, lying against an altar with a trail of blood running to form a pattern, Abby covered in more blood with black eyes, and most disturbing of all, Jo in a locked room, bleeding, her chest torn apart with Dean standing over her. They all showed so much blood, so much pain and it scared him.

"Oh, I guess it was just the shock of her appreciating me. I've never really been told I was good at anything." The lie tasted sour on his lips.

"Trying the poor orphan act are you?" She shook her head.

"Castiel Milton, I can read you like a book." She seemed pretty amused.

"We'll leave it. Come on, Balthazar wants us there early."

Meg pushed the buzzer by the door.

"Hello?" Balthazar's voice called out.

"Hey, Balthazar, it's Meg."

"I'm just coming."

A few moments later, he was rushing out along the lawn to meet them.

"Wow. You look different. New jacket?"

"Well done for noticing. Good for you. Come one, we're all here."

He took them too the entrance hall, smaller than Lily's but far grander with antiques on firm shelves, stretching across the walls. All of Team Free Will were there plus Charlie, in a plaid shirt and baggy jeans, and Bela in a smart, black dress with her naturally straight hair, now in ringlets. Gabriel was tossing an ancient looking amulet, up in the air and then catching it while she tried to stop him.

"That is gold!," she shrieked in her thick, English accent.

"Bela, sweetheart, calm down," Balthazar said to her like she were a child.

"Go and redo your make up."

Bela let out an annoyed gasp and walked upstairs, quickly.

"Alright everybody. Now we can start planning. This is Jake."

A boy who Cas had not noticed stood up. His hair was golden, a few shades lighter than Dean's. He had brown eyes, framed with shockingly thick eyelashes and a single piercing in his left ear. His choice of clothing was simple; a green-brown top that clung to his strong chest, and loose jeans that hung off his supermodel hipbones. His face was young, making him look 17 or 18 but his height indicated otherwise. You could almost imagine him on a surfboard in Australia. Even Cas could tell that he was attractive. Anna stared at him, stunned.

"Hi," he said to everyone.

"Charlie, you ready with the cameras?"

"Yeah, I'll go and sort them out now. Good luck, bitches."

She followed Bela upstairs.

"So Dean." Meg sat down next to him on the marble staircase.

"Jo not here tonight?"

Dean looked slightly sad but straightened up.

"She's angry with me still. I keep telling her the truth but she's all like, she's tired of being lied to."

"And?"

"And, I called her mom at the Roadhouse. She's working nights at a teenage club, on the bar. Probably so she won't see me outside of school."

Balthazar interrupted them.

"Meg, go with Anna, upstairs to my bedroom. And please, don't mess up my things."

Meg and Anna followed the direction he was pointong in to a magnificent room, enormous and fir with a glass chanderlier and flatscreen TV. The bed was a four poster with the fluffiest of pillows.

They stood in an awkward silence.

"So, we don't really know each other outside Team Free Will," said Anna, slightly uncertainly.

Meg thought for a second before agreeing.

"You know, before Cas turned up, I thought you were just another...demon in high heels and lipgloss."

"I guess he brought us together then."

"So what do you say we get to know each other?"

Anna picked up the top pillow and whacked her in the face.

"Wow, really soft," said Meg, not annoyed at all. She picked up the one underneath, bigger and plumper and swung it back. For a few minutes that felt like just seconds, they attacked each other until Ruby came into the room, hand in hand with Jesse.

"We should probably go," Anna whispered and the two girls left to find themselves in the neatly decorated hallway. The tone here was softer. Obviously, no one wanted to break anything in case they got in trouble with the Talbots, and the alcohol was much more limited. Meg spotted Lily come up the stairs with a scowl on her face that still did not ruin the three hours she had put into her make up. Balthazar was directing Jake, pointing out Lily to him and then sent him off. Dean and Cas came to stand next to them.

"Did we miss anything good?" Dean asked.

"It's just about to start," Meg murmured back.

"Dean, pretend to flirt with Anna."

"No," Dean said very firmly.

"I said _pretend_."

Dean still shook his head.

"Just talk to each other."

"And what are you and Cas going to do?"

Meg did not answer but instead pulled Cas into a kiss. Her tongue flicked into his mouth and he copied her example.

When Lily was gone, they pulled away from each other. She was now chatting with Jake at the other end of the hall, while the other guests danced, drunk and made out around them. They were not in earshot so it was unclear what they were talking about but Meg could see from Lily's movements that she was most likely flirting. Eventually, Jake turned, his mouth moving quickly like he was worried he would not make it somewhere, and then he went in the direction of Gabriel and Balthazar, passing them and turning off into a room on the right.

"Phase 2," muttered Meg.

The pictures Balthazar had talked about were more like memorials to members of the Talbot family, all also with odd names like Ezekiel Talbot (1877-1951) and Muriel Talbot (1945-2004). Most had died in their 60s, 70s and 80s with Jake, or Virgil Talbot, being the only exception. They were all impossible to miss, displayed as proudly as trophies and Lily was looking at them right then. As she turned to Jake's, an expression of shock and then pure horror, split across her face. Dean had to cover his mouth to stop himself laughing. Lily walked straight over to Balthazar and began to talk frantically. Cas could see him shake his head. This time Lily shouted so that their conversation could be heard from over there. A few people turned their heads.

"NO! YOU MUST'VE SEEN HIM!" She sounded desperate.

"He walked right past you!"

Gabriel shook his head.

"Would've seen him."

Cas admired his acting skills.

"Please, you have to believe me."

"Is everything alright?" Meg went up to them, followed by Cas, Anna and Dean.

"Oh it's fine. Lily is claiming she saw a ghost."

"A ghost? How interesting." Meg gave a sweet and slightly sarcastic smile.

"Look Lily, if you're so worried, we have cameras, see?" Balthazar pointed to one attached to the ceiling above them.

"We have a room where all the cameras go to. We'll take you there, see if he's on the cameras."

"Or if you're going crazy," Gabriel added.

The camera room was on the very top floor, none of the guests were up here. All they could do was hope that Charlie was done editing the footage.

Balthazar gently pushed open the door to reveal a single chair, tucked under a desk beneath a wall of television screens. There was no sign of Charlie. As Cas moved to the back of the room, he caught a glimpse of ginger hair under the desk. Charlie gave him a thumbs up.

Balthazar fiddled around with the keyboard, eventually pulling up a video.

"Here we are."

The footage started to play. Lily was seen walking along and then suddenly stopped and started talking to mid air. Lily looked confused. When it was over, she began to talk.

"But...that's impossible."

Gabriel shrugged.

"Well...I think I'm gonna go now." And she backed out of the door. Charlie emerged from out of the desk.

"Hi five, guys." She high fived each of them in order.

"Well that's a first," remarked Dean.

"What is?"

"The first time Lily hasn't got so drunk that she falls asleep at a party and wakes up the next morning in bed with some guy. I expect she wanted it to be Jake this time."

Everybody laughed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies again for late publishing of chapter but I've been busy with work and school. And now we're halfway through the story. I'll try and publish a new chapter tomorrow.

Despite the events of the party, Jo still refused to talk to Dean. Now it was February, the school began to prepare for end of year events; the junior prom at the end of April, and the musical, as they discovered as Meg and Cas came into school on a Monday morning. Posters were up everywhere, barely any space in between them. They covered doors, windows and even lockers. It was for Grease, which Cas had never seen.

"I've seen that movie more times than I can count. You won't believe how often it's on TV. I know all the songs. Every single line" said Meg.

"You should audition. You'd be great."

"Yeah because that's the first time Grease has ever been performed in highschool."

"Come on, Meg. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Have you ever watched Glee? Anyone who even gets involved in the arts gets slushied."

"Actually, I haven't seen that, either."

"We really need to get you a TV education. Fine, I'll audition. I think I'd look good in one of those pink ladies jackets anyway. But you need a group. Would you audition with me?"

He shook his head. "I don't sing."

"What about Anna?"

"I don't think she sings either."

"Oh shi_." She was interrupted by a group of four girls, walking up to the next poster over, which had been stuck to a locker, less than two metres away.

"Grease, cool. We should audition."

It was Jody, Lisa, Daisy and Gilda. They all seemed to notice Meg's interest.

"Do you want to audition with us?" asked Gilda **.**

Meg looked uncertain. Apart from Lisa, she never really seemed to talk to this group of girls.

"We need a fifth person," Daisy offered.

"You know what, why not?" she answered them.

"Great," said Gilda. "We'll go to the auditions after school. Better to get it out the way. We'll say you then." She began to skip away with a smile on her face and her gang of friends edging along behind her.

"She's cheerful," Meg said. "Looks like I'm auditioning with them. Just one thing. Don't you dare come and watch me Castiel."

Despite Meg's requests, as soon as last period was over, Cas and Dean made their way over to the assembly hall where most of the school plays were held. All those auditioning sat in the front row while their friends cheered them on from the back. Dean sat the two of them next to a senior girl who he sat staring at as they waited for the first group to begin. Meg turned round and, seeing them, glared. The drama teacher, Miss Gove, shuffled a few papers and took off her glasses before climbing up on stage.

"Thank you to all of you who have come today. If you could please write your name and form on my list." She rested it on the piano and stood in front of them, watching them all with her eagle eyes. She removed a strand of blonde hair from her face. Each of your groups will get a script and fifteen minutes to rehearse before you perform to the others, then, I shall teach you all a song which you will have to perform a short solo of."

Cas cast his eyes to Meg who was rubbing her hands together, nervously.

Miss Gove handed out scripts to each group, supplying Meg's group last. They spread out across the hall and in a swirl of chatter. Every word Dean tried to say to him was lost and he began to doodle Meg with a microphone in the back of his homework diary.

Then the performances began. After a girl who looked like an older version of Hester, Tara West, read a scene with a surprisingly tall boy, it was Meg's turn.

Cas could not understand what was going on, probably because he'd never seen it, but she was good. The scene was something about some girls holding a slumber party. But she was good. Standing up there, she was another person, everything different, her body language, her voice, she became the character, it was like she wasd interpreting her character as Lily. And, her acting could almost conjure up the girl's bedroom, straight from the 50s. Taking drama must have payed off. And then he had to sit through three more. Miss Gove taught them all a song, stood them in a line and got them each to sing a verse, on repeat, a different song for the boys.

Meg was one from last and as the music started he was worried. Daisy had a fantastic singing voice, he hated to admit it but she was better than Meg. Hester's sister was good too, in fact, at least five voices stood out. But finally, it was Meg's turn. Every emotion was expressed through her words, she sung her heart out, pronouncing each line clearly in a high voice. She closed her mouth over the final word, looking relieved and satisfied and even though Miss Gove's back was facing them, he hoped that she was smiling.

As the boys started their song, completely out of tune, the three of them made their way out the front doors to the car park. Dean opened the door to the impala.

**___________________**

"You did great, Meg."

"Thanks Clarence."

"He's serious," said Dean. "I wouldn't be surprised if Miss Gove gave you all the parts. And, we're going to celebrate." He parked them outside a club.

"What are we doing?" Cas sounded panicky.

"We're going in."

"But it says over 21s only."

"Yeah."

"You're 17 and we're 16."

"I'm guessing you've never drunk before." Dean shared a smile with Meg.

"But we have to show I.Ds."

"Ever heard of a fake I.D, Cas?"

"But that's lying."

"Relax. Almost every teenager in the whole of America has one. I got one made for you."

He handed it to Cas.

"Steve Novak?"

"Just show it to them. It will be fine."

Dean pushed him out of the door.

"I don't think we should do this," Cas muttered.

"It will be fine. Calm down."

It was all suddenly very real with a bouncer waiting outside. Dean handed his I.D over. It did not get a second glance.

"Thank you...Jensen." He pushed Dean forwards and looked at Cas.

"I.D?" Cas stood there for just a second, not sure what to do and then took his I.D from his pocket and held it up upside down. The bouncer corrected him.

"Go on in Steve."

"Oh yeah, uh Steve. That's me."

Meg sensed the danger and pushed him forwards and they sat down at a table. A waitress came over, tapping her pen against a notepad, impatiently.

"We'll take three beers," said Dean. He winked at her and she smiled at him, rushing to the bar and then straight back with three bottles.

Cas unscrewed the lid for his and narrowed his eyes.

"Is it good?"

He poured a large amount down his throat at once, then gagged and tried to cough it back out. Meg leaned back in her seat but Dean was not so lucky. He wiped the alcoholic spit from his face.

"No, you drink it _slowly_." Dean took a small sip and then a satisfied breath. Again, Cas tried as Meg and Dean tried to hold back their fits if laughter.

"Mmm. This is good. Isn't this a great time to be alive?" He winked at Dean and clinked his bottle against his.

"You know, I think I'm starting to feel something. You know Meg, I think you did a _really_ good performance tonight," he slurred and then covered his mouth. "Does anyone want to hear a joke?"

Dean smirked and said "Oh sure, Cas. How about you get us three more and then we'll listen."

Cas nodded and got up, sliding along a few tables to keep himself standing before falling straight onto the bar.

"Look at the guy, one beer and he's hammered."

"Reckon he's a flirty drunk?" asked Meg.

"Seems like it. You'd better start praying, Meg. Seems he's got a thing for that waitress."

Cas swayed back up to them. "Here we are, three beerooskis." Then he slumped forward on the table.

"Cas, you alright?"

He sat up. "I love you guys." He hugged them both, suddenly.

"Um, OK, OK. I think you've had enough of that now." Dean began to push his bottle to the edge of the table.

"Hey, pull my finger."

"What?"

"My finger, pull it."

"Um, maybe we should go now," said Meg.

"Did you know that a cat's penis is sharply barbed along its shaft? I can tell you for a fact, the females were not consulted about that."

His head lolled back and Dean and Meg hoisted him up.

"Are you alright?"

"Don't ask stupid questions. Maybe we should play twister."

They took him out the front entrance and lay him down in the back seat. He began to snore, silently.

"He's gonna have the worst hangover tomorrow," Meg laughed.

"We should get him back home although I have no idea what story we'll tell Mrs Milton."

"Well, best night ever. We got to see Cas drunk which was one thing. It's a shame we didn't film it."

"Are you sure?" Dean took out his phone. A tinny voice came out of it.

"Did you know that a cat's penis is sharply barbed along its shaft?"

Dean pressed stop.

"I am _so_ showing that to him tomorrow."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK as promised, here is the next chapter and it's a pretty short one. Hopefully, next chapter by Monday?

"Cas!" Cas turned around as he made his way out of the school gates. Him and Meg were meeting at the bus stop and his head still ached from the night before. Dean had already shown the video to half the junior year.

It was Pamela and her friend, Tessa, the goths as Anna called them. He still had not spoken to either of them. They both liked to keep to themselves and he was fine with that.

"Uh, Pamela. Hey."

"Hey." She stood in an awkward silence with him.

"I don't normally do this but I'm kinda psychic."

"Sure," he replied and began to leave.

"No, wait. I know it's weird but I'm telling the truth. There's something bothering you, something bad. There's a sort of dark light. It hurts my eyes to look at it. Tessa says there are many whispers from the spirit world." She took his hand and grazed each line on his palm.

"What are you doing?"

"Palm reading."

"Um, it's fine, I don't need a palm reading."

"Dark things lie in store for you in the future. You're like us. You know too. You can't carry on hiding your secret forever."

She returned his hand to his side.

"Come on, Pamela," said Tessa. "We have to meet up with Jesse and Theo." She began to drag her away and Cas continued in his path to the bus stop.

**____________________**

Cas pressed his face up against the bus window.

"So, I have good news."

Cas looked up at Meg, expectant.

"I checked the cast list and...I got the part of Rizzo."

When Cas looked blank, she began to explain.

"Queen bitch? The Lily of the 50s?" Cas still looked confused.

"Nevermind. Well, Hester's sister got Sandy and Daisy's got quite a big part. Anyway, it's going to be in May, the second last week before Summer vacation. You're gonna have to help me practice."

"I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, I just hope I don't get slushied." There was a silence between them.

"Also, I got a job at sugar and cream. On Saturdays from 3 till 7. It means we have a 50 percent discount every time we eat there. What did Pamela want, anyway?" Meg asked. "I saw her talking to you by the gates."

"She wanted to do a palm reading."

"What did she say?"

Cas did his best impression of her. "There are dark things in store for you." He let out an evil cackle.

Meg smiled and placed a finger on the map of the bus route. Put your finger on top of mine.

"What are we doing?" asked Cas, obeying her.

"Choosing which stop to get off at."

"Well as long as it's not too far from home."

"Now shut your eyes and you're gonna move my finger."

Cas was enveloped in blackness and moved her finger the shortest distance he could. Meg looked at his choice. It was two stops from them. By now, most people had got off and Meg seemed almost impatient to get there. As they arrived, she jumped up. They were the only two for this stop and with good reason. It stopped just next to a large field, nothing that any adult could possibly want to visit. As soon as the bus disappeared into the sun set, a dark cloud came to hang over their heads.

"I don't like the look of that," whispered Cas as he helped Meg climb over the fence.

"Come on, this was a great idea of mine. All my ideas are great." She dangled down her hand and pulled him over and he landed straight in the mud.

Meg covered her mouth and her eyes crinkled at the sides.

"Stop laughing."

"It's funny," she said.

"It's not!" His voice grew louder.

"Keep being angry. I like it. It's sexy."

He stood up and glared at her and a light rain began to fall. Each drop glittered in her hair and she smoothed it out.

"I love the rain." She began to dance, and started singing an out of tune version of singing in the rain. Her shirt was already damp but she looked so alive and free. Cas pulled his hood up.

"We should get inside. There's a barn over there." She still would not move but the rain got heavier and soon she had to go whether she wanted to or not. Despite the temperature outside, the barn was surprisingly warm. Symbols were scrawled over the walls in sharpie. Meg lay down on the floor and removed her jacket with difficulty as it stuck to her skin.

"What is this place? A satan worshipper lair? Let's just hope they're not back for a few hours." Cas lowered himself to the hard floor and rested his hand on hers. She yawned and lay down.

"You know what, life really sucks."

Cas was confused. "Why do you say that?"

"Well it's obvious isn't it? Most of us have to go about our stupid jobs at the office, wishing we were performing on stage. It's the same routine everyday and the only thing that really counts is trying to find love. No one's happy. Not even people like, I dunno, Kim Kardashian, are happy. They have their mansions and swimming pools and hot boyfriends but then there's that whole dark side. The mean tweets and the pressure and the drugs. And then it's all over. Like snap, nothing."

"You don't believe in Heaven?"

"If there were a Heaven, I'm pretty sure I'd be going in the other direction. No I don't. Not God either or if there is a God, he simply doesn't care. So you're a believer? You do realise you go to the same school as me?"

"Well I think you should have faith in something. I think there is a God and he is good and just."

"Wow, you're a lot cuter when you're shutting up. As I said before, no one's happy."

"What about us, we're happy."

She suddenly turned from her optimistic mood.

"Nothing lasts forever, Clarence."

He narrowed his eyes at her, wondering if she was joking like usual but her eyes were serious. It was what he loved about her. Her personality made her so beautiful. How she could switch from her everyday, sassy self to that intelligent and poetic girl that she liked to cover with a smile. A million secrets hid behind those black eyes.

He rested his hand on her shoulder and leaned down on top of her, shutting his eyes, to kiss her. Their noses knocked against each other and Meg giggled. He was happy to see her back to her old self. She sat back up and hugged him. It was something in between a friendly hug and a romantic hug. The scent of her rose perfume drifted up his nostrils.

"When I look into your eyes, it's like watching the night sky" she began to sing but he knocked her, playfully.

"Who would have thought," she began, returning to her speech. "Two soulmates, meeting. One in a billion chance yet it happened to us. We were stuck inside our shells way _too_ long. Hey, I think this barn is missing something.. You think the satansits would mind one more piece of art?"

Cas shook his head and Meg began to draw a heart. In the middle, she wrote 'MM+CM.'

"Now, even if we don't last forever, at least this will." She pointed at him and carried on singing.

"I won't give up on us! Even if the_ Sorry, I should save my _incredible_ singing for Grease. Want to stay a couple more hours?"

She touched his hand, lightly with her slender fingers.

"I'd love that," he replied


	14. Chapter 14

"So, today we're going to talk about careers," said Mr Crowley in their Wednesday registration.

"I'm serious. Next year, you're all going to have to choose which colleges you want to go to. You need to have some idea what you want to be. Come on, Bela. In 10 years, where do you see yourself?"

"Rolling naked in money."

A few people laughed.

"Chuck, what job do you want?"

"I don't know. I guess I erm, maybe I'll be a writer."

"This is good. Lily?"

"In 10 years, I'm gonna be on the front cover of Vogue and sunbathing next to Rihanna."

"OK." He looked away from her, scanning the class.

 _Please don't pick me, please don't pick me_ , Cas thought.

"Dean, what do you want to do?"

"Me sir, I'm gonna be a rockstar." He mimed strumming an electric guitar.

"Thank you for that, Dean. Kevin?"

"I want to be the first Asian president of the United States."

"Slightly too ambitious, Kevin. Let's move on to Raphael."

"My dad can pay for me to go to Stanford and then I'll be a psychiatrist."

"Mr Crowley, I went to a psychiatrist when I broke my leg," said Ruby.

"Look, girls, you're all...smart." At that point he looked at Ruby. "Beautiful. In 10 years, I can see you all with your dream jobs, earning a living at home with your husbands."

"Yeah, all except Charlie," Lily whispered loud enough for the whole class to hear.

"Yeah, cause' she's a lesbian," Abby whispered back.

Lily turned around and looked at Charlie. "Hey Charlie, Charlie. Why aren't you looking at me Charlie? Worried you won't be able to resist ripping my clothes off?"

"For all those of you who want a job in electronics, sound, music, Art, I recommend you help out with the school musical, they need help backstage and with costumes," said Mr Crowley. He was pretending he couldn't hear Lily.

"I bet Charlie would love to do that. Especially fitting Tara's dress," said Lily.

 Meg could see the pressure building up on Charlie. Suddenly, she got up and ran out of the room.

"Charlie!" Meg shouted and chased after her.

She found Charlie in the girls' bathroom, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Charlie, you OK?"

"You don't know what it's like." She scrubbed at her smudged mascara.

"I've always been like this, you know. I knew when I was 9. All the other girls had posters of Zac Effron but I only wanted ones of other girls. Everyone used gay as an insult back then so I thought there was something wrong with me and I kept it in. When I was 14, I told Dean. We were close you see. What with his deadbeat dad, my mom always had to look after him. So he agreed to pretend to date me. It didn't work out. And then, 9th grade, a few months before you arrived, I came out to everyone. My mom and dad were fine but I think dad was kind of disappointed he wouldn't get proper grandkids. But my grandma, she asked what turned me gay, if it could be cured."

"I'm really sorry."

"I tried to stay in the background but I was pushed against lockers. As if being a nerd wasn't enough, now I liked girls, too."

"It's fine, Charlie." She put her hand on her shoulder.

"Anyway, I think Gilda's got a thing for you. You should ask her out."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah. Trust me. I'm a love expert. But there's something I need your help with. Call it something to cheer you up. It's a small prank on that jerk, Crowley. I call it 'the Prank of March.' It's a working title. Oh and just so you know, I think Zac Effron looks weird, too."

**____________________**

"You're probably wondering why I called you all here." Meg stood at the center of a semi-circle made by the members of Team Free Will plus Charlie.

"To be honest, we're just assuming you have another prank for us," said Dean.

"My plan is to make it seem like Mr Crowley is a drug dealer."

Gabriel and Balthazar exchanged confused glances then burst out laughing.

"I'm serious," she said.

"How?" Dean said, breaking the silence.

"Charlie's a genius computer hacker. She can put his photo onto the most wanted list. Then, we report him found."

"What?" Cas asked, sounding confused. He narrowed his eyes as he spread peanut butter onto a slice of bread. "But they'll find out."

"Who cares? It's just a joke." On cue, Gabriel's phone buzzed. The screen read 'Kali.'

"Need to get that, Gabriel?" Dean asked with a smile.

"Shut up. What are you, twelve?"

"I'm young at heart."

For a month now, Meg had been working hard on rehearsing for Grease. Pages of the script were strewn everywhere around her apartment. She was watching the movie on repeat every night, as well as checking every performance of youtube of 'there are worse things I could do.' And of course, Cas had to practice with her every time he came round. She said she wanted to be perfect, like she wanted to outshine all the others. "I would outshine all the others anyway," she had said one night, sarcastically.

"Hey, dudes, focus," said Charlie. She clapped her hands and everyone looked back at Meg.

"OK guys, here's the plan.".

**___________________**

Dean tapped his fingers on his desk and looked at Cas who was shaking. If he had ever had even the tiniest bit of confidence, it had been taken away by what they had to do now. Meg turned round as Mr Jeckel droned on and on about Frankenstein. She nodded and Dean unzipped his bag. Anna and Charlie should be ready, they had a free period now. He took out his ipod or rather the one he had borrowed from Meg (he hated ipods) and set the volume to maximum before flicking to the loudest rock song he had. He took a deep breath and pressed play. The whole class recoiled back in shock and people like Becky and Kevin clamped their hands over their ears while Abby just grinned at Dean. Cas got up, mimicking the movements of all those who couldn't bear the noise, except more dramatically, and with his hands pressed to his head, he stumbled backwards, knocking over a few chairs before falling to the floor. It was all planned out of course, and rehearsed, but he did a pretty good job of making it seem real. Dean began to strum air guitar.

"You two," Mr Jeckel screamed over the music until Dean got it to stop. "To Mr Crowley's office, now! I'm calling to let him know you're coming."

As they got up to leave, Meg waved under her desk and gave them a thumbs up. Phase one was complete.

"I have to say boys, I'm very disappointed."

Dean glanced at the clock. "I didn't mean for my ipod to go off. I thought I locked it."

"Yes but you didn't have to jump up and start dancing, Dean."

Dean looked away.

"And Cas, things were going so well for you. If this is some stupid prank then_"

The bell rang for break, cutting Mr Crowley off in the middle of his speech. That was the cue. In a few seconds...

A few bangs sounded outside Mr Crowley's office and then laughter followed by two loud crashes. Gabriel and Balthazar.

"Excuse me for a second, boys." Mr Crowley got up and left his office. Shouting could be heard outside. Dean and Cas worked quickly now but with shaking fingers, Dean took the packet of fake snow from deeper down in his bag while Cas kept his ear pressed against the door, and he stuffed it in at the bottom of Mr Crowley's desk draw, underneath a newspaper article on slavery and a thick wallet which Dean was tempted to snatch. How could you have that much money from working as a high school teacher? He managed to shut the drawer and get back to his seat before Mr Crowley walked back in again.

"So, as I was saying, I'm going to write a letter home to your parents. But if this happens again, you will be kept behind after school. Now you can go."

The rest of the gang were waiting for them outside with Meg tapping her foot, impatiently.

"Did you do it?" she asked when they appeared. Dean nodded and she smiled.

"Great, all we have to do now is sit back and wait."

Charlie, using her computer hacking skills, had managed to put Mr Crowley on a most wanted list with a photo (provided by Anna). All Meg had had to do was click found. According to the internet, he was a rich drug dealer with a nationwide market. All they had to do was hope it worked.

The seven of them discovered their success the next day as Kevin rushed up to tell them about how he had been arrested the day before and the fake snow found in his desk. Of course, after he was dragged down to the police station, they discovered it was only a load of plastic and let him go. Mr Crowley certainly suspected them as he kept an eagle eye on them in class but he couldn't proove anything. And that didn't matter. They had done it!


	15. Chapter 15

"Hey Cas." Meg ran up to him as he carried his tray to their table. Her tray was weighed down with pizza and one enormous chocolate cookie. Cas looked at it with narrowed eyes.

"I'm on a die," she said. "Happy Birthday!"

"I thought you'd forgotten."

"How could I forget? I'm your girlfriend, Clarence, aren't I? This means you can't forget my birthday, OK? What are you gonna do anyway? For your birthday, I mean?"

They passed the mean girls table to catch a sliver of their conversation.

"Oh my God, I'm _so_ fat," moaned Lily."You're so lucky, Ruby. You can eat all those fries and not put on any weight."

Ruby sat with her head hunched over the table, scribbling onto the back of her History exercise book. "Way to make teachers think I'm not stupid," she thought allowed and began to make a list. "One, answer questions in class, right."

"You spelt right wrong," said Abby, pointing to the book.

"Oh, it's with a 'W', isn't it?"

"Wrong type of right," said Abby, again.

Meg dragged him quickly away from them.

"Well I thought I'd just stay at home, quietly."

"Boring. Let's do something fun. I've got the day of work tomorrow. I'll pick you up at 12. I'll see you then."

**____________________**

Cas stood outside, wearing his new hoodie, a gift from Amy. He glanced at his watch. It was 10 past 10. Where was she? Suddenly a sleek, black car, pulled up outside and Meg climbed out, leaving the engine running.

"What are you waiting for? Get in!," she called to him.

He approached her.

"Where did you get it? Please don't tell me you stole it."

"What kind of a person do you think I am, Cas? I'm not a thief. Leave that to Balthazar. No, my dad gave me this a few weeks ago. Never been used before. And, this time I'm driver so I get to pick music." She held open the door for him.

"Ladies first."

He hopped into the front seat on the right and Meg sat down beside him switching on her CD. Instantly, a song by Paramore came on and Meg started nodding her head in time with the music, singing along.

"Where are we going?"

"Wait and see."

Meg drove for 10 minutes. She was actually good at driving, better than both Anna and Gabriel and he felt jealous, he'd never had driving lessons before. She drove into town, past most of the likely teenager hangouts; the mall, the movie theater and the Biggersons and he was surprised as she parked by the Art gallery.

"Meg, seriously?"

"I thought it was your type of thing."

"It is my type of thing, I just wasn't sure it was yours."

"Yeah, well it's your birthday, not mine. On my birthday, we're going to a concert. Deal?"

"Deal."

The couple went in, Meg holding his hand and they strolled into the main exhibition which was, luckily, free.

"Abstract art?" asked Meg.

Cas nod. 

"I like it. It's colorful."

A few elderly women turned to look at them, shaking their heads, obviously thinking that the purpose of them being here was to cause trouble.

"Have you ever drawn in this style before then?" she asked.

"I tried once, when I was younger, I guess I just don't have a creative mind because I couldn't really think of any patterns. Also, the color just ruined the pictures so I prefer to just observe."

He took her hand and one woman muttered disapprovingly. Meg sighed.

"As much as I like looking at Art with you, I can't concentrate with Miss Scowl over there. I have another idea. You want to get out of here?"

Cas nodded and the woman breathed a sigh of relief.

Once they were out of the gallery, Cas could talk loudly.

"So what is this next idea of yours?"

Meg stopped in the street, gesturing to a photobooth. She removed five dollars from her pocket.

"Five dollars, four photos. Ready for the photobooth challenge?" She shoved him inside.

"Wait, why is it a challenge?"

"Because of this." She handed him a pair of enormous, pink sunglasses and put on a matching pair.

"No," he said. "Absolutely no way."

"Oh come on." She inserted the money.

"First photo. Just look normal. Well, as normal as you can look in those." She pressed take photo and the annoying, woman's voice counted down from three before the screen flashed. Their photo popped up on screen.

"Is that seriously the best smile you can do?" asked Meg.

"Yes," he replied.

"Ok, romantic photo time now."

"Do we still have to wear the glasses?"

"Yes, we still have to wear the glasses." She pressed take photo, again and this time, kissed hia cheek. They carried on with two more, one of them pulling stupid faces and one of them screaming. As she pulled them out of the machine, she smiled.

"This will look great in my locker."

"Meg," Cas moaned.

"I'm only joking. Come with me."

This time, she began to take him to the worse area of town. Less adults were around and around every corner, a gang could be found smoking and drinking. Meg dragged him down an alleyway as they passed another of these gangs, this one with a fierce dog.

"What are we doing?" he asked in a hushed tone.

She unzipped her bag and handed him a spray can before taking one out herself and beginning to spray the wall.

"You realize how illegal this is," he said.

"Just be prepared to run."

He joined her, spraying his own name in yellow while she used blue for hers.

"How did you come up with all these things for us to do?"

"100 best dates.com."

He laughed and suddenly, the sound of sirens came from the distance.

"Run!" she yelled, and they took of, abandoning all the spray cans.

"Hey, you kids!" the policeman yelled at them but they could not let him catch even a glimpse of their faces.

"We have to get to sugar and cream," she shouted at him and they ran round a few corners, getting some unwanted attention from passers by and went straight through the door of sugar and cream to their usual table. It was empty at the moment, it was 5 o clock when most people were on their way home from a busy day. The waitress didn't comment on how they were out of breath but instead, just handed them a menu.

"Mmm, how do you fancy sharing a giant banana split?"

"I don't know, Meg," said Cas. "I mean I want to but I haven't had any lunch."

"It's your birthday, well it was yesterday. You can eat what you want. Anyway, I have a big plan for dinner. Don't worry, your mom knows, you don't have to worry about being home on time." She called over the waitress.

"One banana split, please. Oh, and can we have two spoons with that?"

"Of course, miss. Two minutes," the waitress replied.

Cas stared out of the window. This was the perfect way to spend his birthday. Back at the home, a birthday had meant old fashioned party games like musical statues before some other kid ruined it. He caught sight of a piercing shop in the corner.

"One banana split, to share," said the waitress, handing them the most enormous banana split ever, over to them. "Enjoy."

Meg dipped her spoon in straight away, and Cas copied, savouring the sweet taste.

"Oh my God. This is even better than birthday cake."

Meg laughed with ice cream all around her mouth. The next spoons were quicker and quicker until it was all gone. Meg payed and they left.

"OK, I have one more treat for the night."

"Meg, wait."

Meg froze in her tracks.

"Do you mind if we, um, go in there?" He pointed at the piercing shop.

"Oh no, you don't want a nose ring do you? I've been such a bad influence on you." She shook her head, holding back a laugh.

"No, no. Maybe I could just have a...ear piercing. On this ear." He held his left earlobe between two fingers.

Meg hesitated for a moment then shrugged.

"What the Hell? It's your birthday. If you want a piercing, you can have one. But, just to warn you, it hurts." She pushed her hair to the back of her head to show of her rose earrings.

**____________________**

Cas and Meg emerged from the shop, his ear stinging badly.

"I did tell you it hurt."

"Well it still looks better."

"I think it looks cool," Meg said.

"Well it feels quite warm."

"Oh my God. Did you just make a joke?"

"Did I?"

She changed the subject quickly. " _Now_ it's time for the final treat and it is around this corner."

She placed her hand over his eyes and he felt them turn.

"And you can look now." She took her hand away from his eyes.

"You're giving me your car?"

"No, I am teaching you how to drive. I can't take you everywhere. Go on, in."

Cas sat down in the front seat, gripping the wheel between both hands.

"OK, push on the accelerater and we can go."

"Accelerater, where's is it?"

"Wow, this is going to be a dangerous ride."

"Slow down, slow down," Meg screamed. "No, push the breaks, to the right yes, yes, the right, no we're going to crash, stop! No, not the dustbin! Not again! Stop!"

The car came to a halt.

"That was officially the worst drive I've ever had. Do you hate dustbins? Do you actually hate dustbins?" She got out. It was dark now and they had stopped at the side of an empty crossroads.

"Meg, what are you doing?" he said, running after her.

"We are going camping."

"But Amy doesn't kno_"

"Relax. I told her. There's a spade in the trunk. Could you get it out?"

"Why do we need a spade?" he asked, handing it to her. Meg began to dig in the mud on the very center of the crossroads. When it was only a few centimeters deep, she reached into her handbag and took out a small box. She opened it for him, revealing the contents. Inside was a photo, a copy of Team Free Will at Christmas.

"What are we doing?"

"We're gonna bury it. It will leave a permanent memory of us here. And, in a hundred years, someone will dig it up." She placed it in the ground and covered it with the dirt.

"Now help me with the tent."

"You brought a tent?" Cas was shocked.

"What, you just thought we were going to sleep outside?" She took it from the back of the car and began to read the instructions.

"Insert pole C into section A. You get the food. It's in the trunk."

He obeyed her and began to take out plastic containers. A smell wafted from them, not giving him a clue to what was inside and he leaid them out on a picnic blanket, just next to where Meg was in the middle of setting up a tent. The sun was near the end of settimg, the sky akready a royal blue. He estimated it to be around 7. He lay down on the picnic blanket, his stomach finally feeling the pains of hunger. Meg kneeled down next to him while still rubbing the sweat from her hands.

"Well, I put the tent up the best I could. Now we can eat." She began to unpack the food, foreign looking salads and potato cakes, doritos, cucumber sticks and chocolate cupcakes.

"Gone vegetarian, Meg?"

Meg got out some paper plates.

"Not officially but I'm not eating meat _as much._ Look, I brought booze." She took out two beer cans.

"Don't have too much, alright Clarence."

He took a quick sip then helped himself to some salad. Meg took her ipod out of her pocket and turned some music on.

"It's tbe first one of those songs I'm going to put on that album you gave me. I call it 'cause'."

"Cause?"

"Cause as in reason to get up in the morning."

All he could offer to that was "oh."

"And at the moment, you and Team Free Will are my cause." She bit into a dorito and it crunched between her teeth. The song was electronic, she had begun to sing, her voice running along a lot slower than the actual tune. Somehow, it worked.

"You know, it's still there. The tattoo you did on my back. It's mostly faded but you can still see where it was."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know the pens were permanent."

"It's fine. I kind of like it."

She lay back on the blanket and he put his head down next to hers. The stars had begun to come out in the now, sapphire blue sky. Meg turned her head towards him.

"Tell me something about you. About a happy moment in your life."

Cas thought for a few moments. Before he came to Lawrence, there had hardly been many happy memories.

"It was when I was 13. The last Harry Potter film had come out. I read the books and I was a bit of a fan so some of the staff at the home to my friend Rachel, me and a few other kids to see it. And it was all exciting and then this one group of boys, they were our age, they started throwing popcorn at us and then one of the girls with us chucked this whole box back at them and then the whole theater just turned into this massive food fight."

"That sounds fun," said Meg.

"It was. OK, now it's your turn."

"Well there was this one time, we travelled around a lot when I was a kid so we never really got to do anything fun for me. And, on my 8th birthday, my dad told me to get in the car. We were somewhere in Florida and I thought we were moving again and I thought what an awful birthday it would be but then, he drove us all the way to Disneyland. I went on all the rides and the rollercoasters and as much as I could fit in that day and I met all the princesses even though I wasn't really into that and then we stayed for the fireworks. But as soon as they were over, my dad got me in the car and he just drove off."

Meg stopped, out of breath.

"I've never been to Disneyland," said Cas.

"I figured that. Maybe we could go in Summer. Or, we could go to the beach and do the exact same thing."

"I'd like that." He put his arm around her.

"The stars are pretty tonight," Meg said, slowly.

"What are ou doing?"

"I'm trying to make things more romantic. I thought that was your type of thing, all sappy and sweet and messed up."

"I hardly want us to be some sappy, messed up love story."

"If this were a love story then people wouldn't read it unless it were sappy and messed up. It's not like we're vampires who fall in love or we're saving the world from aliens who want to eat our brains." She raised her beer.

"To our messed up love story love story." They clinked their bottles together.

"Just think, we only have one year left at school. What are you gonna do afterwards?" Cas was curious. It was one thing he did not know about her.

"I want to go to college and learn more about music and maybe after that, I'll become a radio DJ. That would be great. Or I could be an actress. I could play a nurse on TV. A sexy nurse. And you could be some doctor I'm dating and then I'll cheat on you and we'll break up and it will be all like, 'who's Nurse Masters going to date next week?'"

"Sounds like a great career. Mr Crowley would be proud...I'm not sure it's for me really. Perhaps I'll be a graphic designer or an illustrator. The more loose jobs where you're not working the whole time."

She rubbed her hand over his shoulder and tapped his shoulder blade. He flinched but let her keep it there.

"Well one things certain. When school's finally finished, we're gonna order some pizza and we're gonna throw a party. A party for just a few special friends. Know what I mean?"

"Um, I think yes?"

She laughed.

"We should probably turn in. It's getting late."

She picked herself up from the ground, looking slightly dizzy, and walked in the direction of the tent. Cas followed her inside and lay down in his sleeping bag and he fell asleep with their heads resting together.


	16. Chapter 16

'Lily for prom queen. Lily for prom queen.' Everywhere Cas turned, all he could see were those four words, decorating every wall, displayed across every poster, below a smiling and enthusiastic photo of Lily herself. The prom was next week so everyone was still desperate to have a prom date. He had already had to refuse two girls.

Dean came up behind him and tapped his shoulder.

"So what do you think?" Dean asked.

"I think they're taking this _way_ too seriously."

"Come on. It's junior prom. For some of these girls, it will be their only chance to feel good about themselves. So, you and Meg are going together?"

"Yeah. Her, Anna and some other girls are going shopping for dresses after school. Amy's talking about me booking a limo. She offered to do it herself though."

"Well, I'm going to try my luck." He stared at the back of Jo as she took her things out of her locker. He took a deep breath and approached her.

"So, Jo. Next week's junior prom, it's gonna be fun. You want to go with me?"

Jo gave an annoyed look to him.

"Dean, I don't believe what Lily said about you and Anna, OK. I've got to admit I did at first but I don't now. But Dean, you love to have fun and at some point you will do something like that. It's obviously going to happen."

"But_"

"No. Sweetheart, next week _is_ junior prom and I'm gonna spend it with a little thing I call self respect. Anyway, I'm going with Ash." She turned and walked off.

"Well, she does have a point. What am I going to do now? I could try Ruby."

"She hates you and last week you told her that an ant had a bigger brain than her. Anna's not going with anyone though."

"Are you trying to say something?"

"No. I just think that you should go as friends."

"You're right, they really are taking this too seriously. We'll go suit shopping after school."

**____________________**

"Cas, your prom date is here!"

Cas adjusted his bow tie and took a deep breath. The night was here. The night that all teen TV series make such a big deal of and where every main character wants to be prom queen. The corsage he had chosen for Meg was beautiful; a few dark blue flowers, which he did not know the name of, with the softest petals. It would fit perfectly around her wrist. He just hoped she would like it.

Cas made his way to the hallway, catching a glimpse of Anna's dress, brushing along the floor. And there he saw two beautiful girls, his sister and his girlfriend, now almost unrecognizable as even more beautiful women.

Anna's dress was green and shimmery, tight around her waist with a small slit up the side of the leg. Her hair fell in a coppery braid over her right shoulder with flowers laced in, and her make up was minimal, a tiny bit of gold eyeshadow and some lipstick. Dean held hands with her and her corsage was made up of orange tulips.

Meg's dress was strapless. The color was difficult to make out, a blend between purple and blue. The skirt was made up of layers of silk, spilling out along the floor, just revealing her purple high heels. She had painted her lips, lightly, with a plum colored lip gloss. She had eye shadow too, silver with a few specks of glitter in her eyelashes. Her hair fell loose in curls with violet highlights, just visible if you looked closely enough. She had a silver clip, pulling back the hair on one side.

She smiled at him as he came down the stairs and they shared that awkward smile. He handed her the corsage.

"You look wonderful," said Amy. "This is so exciting. I need to go and get my camera."

She left the room.

Anna looked really excited.

"This is going to be so great, I've always wanted a prom, this is exactly the way I dreamed it would be, hey we should take a selfie before mom comes back." She took a moment to breathe and got out her phone.

"Pull a silly face everyone."

Dean pretended to scream and Meg stuck her tongue out while Anna gave the silliest grin.

Amy came back in.

"OK, now get into couples. Anna and Dean first." She snapped.

"I can't believe it. My little girl, her first prom. Oh, you look so beautiful. Yes, now you Meg and Cas."

She took a photo of them, holding hands.

"And you, you look so handsome. Meg, you are gorgeous. Take care of him."

She kissed Cas' forehead.

"Well, the car's waiting outside," said Meg. "Cas, we better get going."

Anna and Dean began to go out too.

"Hey Cas." Gabriel came up behind him, not dressed smartly at all. He had had his prom last year.

"Can I have a word with you?" He glanced at Amy and added, "In private."

Amy nodded and left, Meg gesturing that she'd wait for him outside.

"So," Gabriel walked around him, looking him up and down.

"Junior prom. Good luck."

"What do you mean?"

"There are two ways it could end. One, the blonde haired, rich girl wins prom queen and thinks she's the real queen for the rest of her life. Or, two, she doesn't win and she screams and slaps the other girl in the face and shouts how her life is all so unfair and then cries in the bathroom."

"Well I'm pretty sure that Lily has this one in the bag."

Gabriel laughed. "Anyway, you get home and there's something most couples do. I have a _gift_ for you." He took out a packet.

"What are those?" asked Cas.

"Rubbers," said Gabriel, sarcastically.

"No. We're _not_ going to tonight."

"Maybe not _tonight_ but you will at some point."

"I'm only 17 and she's 16. Why the Hell would we want to now?"

"Alright, no need to get angry." He handed Cas the packets and, scowling, Cas stuffed them in his backpack by the door.

"Don't drink too much. Dean told me what a lightweight you are," Gabriel called as Cas walked out the door.

It was still light and Anna and Dean's limo had already left.

Cas slid into the backseat of theirs, next to Meg, and the driver set off.

"So, this is very...romantic," said Cas after a silence of about 30 seconds.

"Yeah. To be honest, I'm not into any of that romantic poetry stuff. I'd rather just stay at home and watch TV while eating chocolate. Luckily I brought chocolate."

She offered him a box of Hershey's.

"Thanks." He popped one of the milky chocolates in his mouth.

"So who'd you vote for for prom queen?"

"Lisa. She's one of our friends and I'd rather her than the Devil," Cas said, referring to Lily.

"I voted for Lisa too."

The driver stopped them in front of the school and held out his hand.

"That will be $2 for the wait."

Meg groaned, annoyed, but not wanting to make a fuss, she handed the money over.

"Enjoy your prom, kids."

Dean and Anna met them round the front where girls in enormous ballgowns were making their way in, supported by their dates.

"I've said this before and I'll say it again. They're taking this way too seriously," said Dean.

For just one night, the sports hall had been transformed into a ballroom. A stage had been set up where a cheap band the school must have hired, performed. A food and drink table was set up at the back and balloons of every color hung at the roof. The school had managed to get a disco ball too. At the moment, the song playing was loud and upbeat, almost all couples were dancing.

Meg grabbed Cas' hand and dragged him off into the crowd. Everyone moved in time with the music, their arms shaking in the air, everyone blurring into one. Charlie squeezed in next to them. Her dress was yellow and brightly colored, floating around her. She looked amazing. Her date was Gilda in a purple dress with her curly brown hair, neatly falling onto her shoulders.

"What's up, bitches?" said Charlie. "Having fun?"

"Yeah, until prom queen is announced," said Meg.

"I voted for Lisa," Charlie admitted.

"Me too," said Gilda. "She's such a sweet girl, and _so_ pretty."

Charlie took Gilda's hand and they began to dance.

Meg shrugged and they joined in, jumping up and down in time with Charlie and Gilda. Soon, they were joined by Dean and Anna, Jody and Garth, and Pamela and Jesse.

The band began to play a Rihanna song, the same one that they had danced to the first time they met. Meg seemed to have realized this too. She led Cas into the center of the dance floor and they danced, Meg shaking her head. Suddenly, it was just the two of them. Meg shook her hair, a strand brushing against his face. He was reminded of what a good dancer she was. But of course, it couldn't last forever.

The band was halted as Principal Deville came up on stage.

"And now, it's that time where we must reveal the results for prom king and queen. So please welcome the nominees, first for king, Zach Ross, Michael Rance, Aaron Shaw, Jack Wokowski and Ben Cooper." This received a round of applause as a line of the school football players, now all in suits, walked in a proud line up on stage. It was being treated like an Oscar awards ceremony.

"And now, the nominees for queen, Alice Kim, Katie Rowland, Hester West, Lisa Braeden and Lily Eden."

There were four forms in 11th grade and three of the nominees had been from Mr Crowley's. Hester's blonde hair was curlier than usual and possibly, even blonder. Her dress was turquoise and puffy, the top half covered in sequins. Lisa wore dark blue, her hair was plaited around the back of her head and she had glitter on her face. She was stunningly pretty. As expected, Lily was the center of attention. Her blonde hair was expensively done up, filled with diamonds and glitter. Her dress was pink, not so puffy that she looked like a strawberry flavored meringue but not so thin that she looked like she could freeze to death. The pink was just perfect too, not so pale that it blended in with her skin but not so dark that it was hard to look at her. Her face was coated in make up but somehow, it looked natural. Cas tried to locate the other mean girls. Ruby was at the front, in a ruby red dress, kissing her date, Luke's, face. Apparently, Lily had not let her try out for prom queen. But Abby was nowhere to be seen. Now he thought about it, he hadn't seen them hanging out for a while.

"And the prom king, 2014, is..." The Principal took out an envelope.

"Zach Ross!"

Zach cheered for himself, looking incredibly smug. Dean groaned. He had always hated Zach. Lily looked happily. Most prom kings get their dates as prom queen.

The Principal placed a crown on his head.

"Look at her, thinks she so perfect," whispered Pamela to Jesse. For tonight, she had gone all out goth in a homemade dress of a black and glossy material. It came down to just below her knees with the hem torn. She had stitched dark purple strips of lace below the waist, messily, and finished with black, high heeled boots. She had outlined her eyes thickly in black and had ourple lipstick. A belt pulled in her waist and the back was laced up with gaps of skin showing, one displaying her new tattoo reading 'Jesse Forever'.

"And, the prom queen is...Lisa Braeden!"

There was a moment of silence. Disbelief crossed Lisa's face. Then, Meg brought her hands together and the whole hall started applauding. That was broken by a scream from Lily.

"NO! SHE CAN'T BE PROM QUEEN! I'M PROM QUEEN! SHE CHEATED! SHE MUST HAVE!"

Cas chuckled, thinking how accurate Gabriel's description had been. Lily rushed forwards and slapped Lisa in the face before running off to the girls' bathroom. Ruby followed her.

The Principal sighed. He had obviously seen this many other times.

"So now, the prom king and queen must dance together."

Everyone parted and Lisa and Zach moved into the middle, Lisa looking even prettier with her tiara. The band began to sing a love song and they swayed slowly in each others' arms. Hester and Michael joined them, her resting her head against his chest. Then, the others began to follow. Cas held one of Meg's hand and put the other in her hair, glossy beneath his fingers. She took his shoulder. Her dress brushed the floor, their foreheads touched and the back of her dress was low enough so that the newly drawn angel wings on her back were visible. The song ended and people made their way to the food table, either because they were hungry or because they wanted to make out. Meg helped herself to punch and Cas looked over at the kissing couple in the corner. He recognised the black dress to be Abby's and the other participant was, as unexpected as could be;Bela.

"Look at that," said Cas. "Maybe, now she'll stop bullying Charlie."

"I think, good for Abby. It's sweet that she discovered who she really was. And after all that crap she put Charlie through."

"Sounds awful."

Daisy climbed up on stage. Her dress was dark pink.

"Hello everyone. It's time for the final song." Her voice was amplified by the microphone. She began to sing in a deep, soulful voice and a guitar started up in the background. No wonder she had got a part in Grease. Unsure of what to do, Meg took Cas' hands and led him into the dance so that he could spin her and his arms caught her around the waist.

Lily emerged from the bathrooms with her mascara smudged and she wore a scowl, ripping her picture perfect face in half.

"Thanks," Meg whispered to Cas. "This was a great and...interesting night. I had a really good time." 


	17. Chapter 17

"Cas? You haven't called in over a month now. I called you the day after your birthday but you didn't answer." It felt good for him to hear Rachel's voice again after so long. He was under a lot of stress at the moment because, for the first time in over a month, he had done another strange drawing. Of course, it was probably nothing, but it scared him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I was with Meg."

"Not this Meg again. You still haven't broken up?"

"No! We're in love."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really!" Rachel was really annoying him now.

"So what's her full name or is it just Meg, like Madonna?"

"If you must know, it's Meg Masters."

"Well I'm really happy for you," she snapped back at him.

"Rachel," he said, softly. "There's been something wrong with you since I first mentioned Meg. What is your problem with her?"

"You want to know what my problem is with her? I've known you 16 years, Cas, we were best friends. And then you go and abandon me for this random girl you only met a few months ago. And you know, there's more to it than that."

"What?"

"I...I like you, OK Cas." She took a few deep breaths.

"I always have."

He didn't know what to say.

"Er Rachel, I_."

"Save it Cas. You obviously don't feel the same way." At that point she hung up. Cas sighed and smashed his mobile down on the desk before looking at his finished drawing again. The detail, it was so realistic, he had not known what it was until it was complete. Gabriel lay on the ground, with his eyes closed, probably just sleeping, but around his body, a pair of enormous angel wings, dividing off into more, were etched into the ground. It gave him a sense of fear just thinking about it. He folded it slowly up into his desk and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

**___________________**

"Hey Cas, what's wrong?" Meg held open the door to her apartment.

"Nothing, I'm just glad to see you." He kissed her, quickly on the lips.

"OK, something's definitely wrong."

"How can you tell?"

"Well, you're upset and suddenly you're a great kisser."

"Hey." He punched her, playfully on the arm.

"So what is it?"

"I don't really want to talk about it. Can we just go inside?"

Meg obediently took him upstairs.

"You hungry?"

"No, not really."

"Good because we have literally nothing. I'll have to go out shopping."

She took him to her bedroom and they sat down, sinking into the soft mattress. Meg unzipped Cas' backpack.

"Uh, Cas, what are these?" She held up the pack of condoms.

"Oh, Gabriel gave them to me. He said it was a _present._ "

"What would we do without Gabriel?" she laughed.

"Well life would certainly be easier."

Meg agreed.

"Do you ever miss the beginning of this year? When I was one of the mean girls?"

"No. Why?"

"Well I was bad, you were good, life was easier. You're a great guy, Cas. Not what I expected. I know that's straight out of 'one hundred cheesiest pick up lines' but it's true. How did I get to deserve you?"

She kissed him, this time, her lips tasted of cherry.

"Have you ever thought about it?"

"Thought about what?" Cas asked.

 She offered him Gabriel's 'present' and shrugged and Cas, for once knew what she meant. It was a heat of the moment thing but it was what he wanted. She pulled him down onto the soft duvet with her and began to lift off his T-shirt while he unzipped her jacket. And still they remained joined at the lips. Her kiss was so tender and smooth. Fireworks exploded in his brain. She undid the buttons of his jeans. He collapsed down on top of her, and covered them with the blanket, and traced his fingers slowly along the lace of her bra, down to the fake wing tattoo and then to the scar on her spine. He carefully unhooked the straps and they kissed while she brushed back his hair. She lifted him up, feeling the bones of his chest and rubbing the palms of her hands against them. He pressed his cheek against hers, absorbing the heat. She breathed heavily and kissed him again and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Their bodies fitted together perfectly, their legs intertwined with each other. He rested his hand over her heart, feeling the warmth of her bare skin and the light pulse beneath. She brushed her hand over his shoulder blade. He rolled to lie beside her and gently rubbed her side while staring into her black eyes where a million stars shone. Her hair tickled his neck and she laughed, brushing it away. Her smile was so beautiful, he thought.

"So how was that?"

"It was a pleasant experience," he answered.

They sat in silence for a moment and then both laughed loudly. He looked over at her, fondly.

"Have you ever done that before?" asked Meg.

"No. Did I do well?"

"Incredibly so. Of course I wouldn't know. It was my first time too. Bet you didn't expect that? Well there's a first time for everything." She pulled the blanket up to her neck. Her phone buzzed.

"Dammit." She turned to Cas. "To be continued?"

He nodded and she picked up her cell. "Oh, it's Ruby."

"Is everything OK?"

"I don't know." She held it to her ear.

"Hey, Ruby. Whoa slow down. Ruby what's_. Oh my God." She put the phone down with a look of urgency and fear.

"Get dressed."

"What's the matter?" Cas sat up, pulling on his T-shirt.

"We've got to go."


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH IN THIS CHAPTER

The ride back to the Milton house was in silence. Cas kept trying to ask what was wrong but Meg would shut him up, looking at him with her eyes which tried to fight back tears. He offered to turn on some music but she refused. When they arrived, the cops were already there, as well as an ambulance and a few black cars. Cas got out and walked up to a crowd of people, amomg them Ruby and Anna.

"Anna, what's going on?"

Anna opened her mouth to speak and then burst into tears.

"Agents Ackles and Collins, FBI." Two men in black suits pushed past them, towards the Sheriff.

"Ah, agents, you're just in time. A boy's just been stabbed."He said it all so casually like he could not care less.

Cas suddenly sensed the urgency and rushed forwards, parting the crowd. A policewoman tried to restrain him but he pushed past her, into a crowd of more agents. Some attempted to cover his eyes, to stop him seeing, but he already knew. For there, lying on the ground, a deep wound in his chest and his eyes wide open, was Gabriel. His laugh was finally silenced. Cas would never again hear his voice, never see that twinkle in his eye ever again. And, worst of all, his drawing had come true. Cas broke down on the ground in tears.

**____________________**

The FBI had no idea who did it. There was no DNA, no one had found the murder weapon. They did not have cameras at their house like the Talbots did. There were not even any witnesses. Cas and Gabriel had driven home after school and arrived at 4. Anna had gone to the mall with Jody. Cas had done some homework then, at around 5, called his friend Rachel. They had talked for two minutes before he went to Meg's, leaving a note for Amy, saying where he was going. He had stayed there a few hours until they heard what had happened and came back. That was all Cas told them and that was all they needed. They estimated the murder to have happened at around 9.30. Meg did not get the call until 10. Anna arrived home from the mall at 7 when she had dinner and then went upstairs and revised. She had still been revising when it happened. Amy had been cleaning up after dinner and sent Gabriel outside to empty the trash. She had heard his scream and called 911 but had not seen the murderer. They seemed to have come to the conclusion that it was a random gang attack. But Cas knew differently. If only he could have stopped it. And all Gabriel got was one paragraph on page 18 of the local paper.

The day of the funeral came and went. Cas dressed in a black suit, Anna in a black dress. She had refused to speak since it happened. Cas stood by the graveside with Meg squeezing his hand as they piled the dirt on top of the coffin. And he waved his last goodbyes.

Then they all piled into the church. Cas sat down next to Sam, Dean's little brother. He stroked Cas' arm.

"It's OK, Cassiel. My mom died."

"Thank you Sam," he said, not pointing out that he had said his name wrong.

Daisy gathered a group of students to sing for Gabriel. Meg was one of them. Her voice was so sweet, it was clear she really meant it. She waved to him and smiled but there was not a scrap of happiness in that facem

Then, they invited up Cas and the other four remaining members of Team Free Will. Meg spoke first.

"I was lucky to have Gabriel as a friend. We used to think of pranks together. And he had all the best ideas. He could always make me laugh. I'm sad to see him go."

Next it was Balthazar's turn.

"Gabriel, you were my best friend, ever since I arrived here. I was the rich, English boy, no one liked me. But you saw past their first impressions. Thank you."

"Gabriel, we're all sad to see you go," said Dean.

Then, everyone looked to Cas.

"OK. Um, Gabriel, you were only my brother for just 8 short months. But in that time, you became the best brother I could ever have and you will be dearly missed. I just wish I could speak to you, face to face, one last time." A few people sitting down wiped tears from their eyes including Amy. It was so awful. You see this kind of thing in newspapers and sometimes you just try to imagine how they feel when they come up with their solemn opinion of their son or daughter.

They were about to sit back down when Anna took the microphone. No one had expected her to say anything but she did.

"Gabriel, I swear I will find whoever did this to you and kill them!," she shouted and then followed them back to their seats.

Next the family went back to the Milton house and Meg had to be sent back to her apartment. Family members Cas had never met before, greeted him, kissing him and telling him how touching his speech was. Katherine and Edward were there, as well as Rich's parents, but none of them were in a mood for interrogation. The wine came out and two bottles were used up but still, no one felt any better. Cas sipped at a small glass, remembering his first drink with Meg and Dean. He had felt a sense of happiness, likenothing else in the world mattered. Why wouldn't that come now?

Anna was sitting at the table with another redhead, a few years older than them. She had the same sense about her as Lily and Anna did not seem to be taking in a word of her conversation. Cas sat down in between them.

"Hi," the other girl said. "I'm Jane. You must be Castiel. I'm Anna's cousin. That's my mom, Rich's sister. We live in DC, near the White House. One time I saw the president!"

Cas knew he did not like her straight away. She seemed happy, spoilt, even like she was trying to show off.

"You know, I saw your speech in church. It was _really_ sad. I've just been talking to Anna, here."

"That's all fine. I need to speak to Anna for a while."

Jane stood up, gave a sympatheric look at Anna and then left.

"Um, Anna, I would hug you but that would be...awkward. I'm just as upset about this as you are but_"

"No," she interrupted. "You're not as upset as I am! You're not a part of this family! Not really! All you care about is your stupid boyfriend because you haven't known him for 17 years like I have! All you care about is you and your relationship with Meg! But Gabriel's gone! He's dead! And he's not coming back!" She calmed her voice a bit."Just go back to your drawing, Cas."

He opened his mouth to protest but then turned away. He would only make things worse. Ignoring the relatives, all trying to talk to him at once, he ran upstairs and slammed the door. He had taken a few things from Gabriel's room, just to feel like Gabriel was still around, to have some sense of him. One of those things had been the Team Free Will scrapbook, the one Gabriel had been given for Christmas. He had not opened it yet but now felt like a good time. The first photo was the selfie, the one they had taken on Halloween. There were an assortment of others, Christmas, Balthazar's party, even prom night. He had kept a record of them since they began and now he would never get anymore. 30 blank pages. No chance for him to ever fill them in. And suddenly, Cas felt like doing what he did best; drawing.


	19. Chapter 19

Cas assumed that there were no visitors at the moment. All was quiet downstairs. Or maybe the sadness had taken their voices. People had been dropping in all week, saying how sorry they were and bringing pies and cakes, none of which anyone felt like eating.

He could hear Anna smashing her head against her bedroom wall, lightly enough that it could not be heard downstairs. Stage 1: depression, Stage 2: anger. How much worse could it get for her?

Amy came in with a bowl of warm soup.

"I put you together some late lunch. There's not much left in the house that's edible now my mother's gone."

"It's OK." He bowed his head. "But I'm not that hungry.

"You and your sister are wasting away. To be honest, I can't eat either. This is a tough time for us, for all of us. Tough doesn't even begin to describe it. Maybe you should leave Anna alone for a while." She tried to put on a smile but he could see right past it, it was just a mask.

The funeral was a whole week ago yet it seemed longer, no one dared turn on the radio or TV. School was worse. Teachers kept asking if they wanted to talk with them or sit out and most people avoided them in the playground for fear of offending them. Even Meg and Dean could barely look them in the eye.

"I'll leave you alone then."

She shut the door gently and Cas sipped a spoon of the soup but it just would not go down. It just sat in a puddle on his tongue. He jumped as his cell rang while charging on his bed. The screen read 'Rachel' with a small icon of her.

"Rachel, I'm sorry this is a bad time."

"I know, I heard. I'm really sorry." Despite her words, there was a hidden glee in her voice.

"Rachel, what is it?"

"It's about your girlfriend, Meg." She spat he name out.

"If this is still about then, it's all_"

"No. After you called on that day, I talked to your mom and found out Meg's address. No one has lived in that apartment for years."

"What?"

"And," she said, getting even more excited. "I looked up the name, Meg Masters. There's no record of anyone with that name living in Lawrence."

It took a moment to hit him.

"Are you sure? I mean, you're only 17. It's not like you're experienced in that area."

"I swear on my life, I am not making this up. You can deny it all you want but there's something not right about her."

Cas tried to block ot what she was saying but it all made sense. How her parents were never home, how she had to get her own job.

"Um, OK Rachel, I'll call you back later."

"Tell me how it all goes." She sounded spiteful.

Cas hung up and dialled Meg's cell.

"Hey this is Meg. Too busy pranking to pick up. Please leave a message."

He began to panic. Something awful was about to happen. He typed in her home phone with sweaty fingers. It went straight to voice mail. He calmed himself and thought for a moment. It was a Saturday. She should be working down at sugar and cream. He checked his watch. Her shift finished in 15 minutes!

He rushed out of the front door, past a protesting Amy, and to Gabriel's car. Now, it officially belonged to him and Anna. He gripped the wheel tightly and remembered what Meg taught him and he sped off. The determination must have powered him as he made it in 10 minutes although still crashing into dustbins. He spotted Meg's car easily, right in the parking lot behind sugar and cream and, without parking, he rushed over to it and leaned against it. Meg emerged a few minutes later with her bag over her shoulder.

"Cas? What are you doing here? Never mind." She began to approach him.

"Look Cas, I know this is hard for you and your family. It's hard for me too but I want what we did last week to have meant something. Anyway, completely off topic, do you think I'd look good with blonde hair?"

"Meg stop." He held out a hand. "My friend Rachel called."

"And?"

"And she told me there's no Meg Masters living in Lawrence. There never has been."

Meg's eyes widened in shock and he moved slowly closer to her but she punched him in the face.

"Ow, Meg." He held his nose as it began to bleed and she kicked him right in between the legs. He grabbed his groin in pain.

"Shi-Meg. Please stop. She began to run to the back wall but he chased her and grabbed her. She began to wrestle against him but his arms stayed firm.

"Now, you're going to tell me who you really are or I'm calling the cops."

She looked up into his eyes, smiling.

"I was an idiot. You would have found out eventually. It all began God knows when or whatever. As I already told you, my dad moved round a lot. I had no siblings, my mom left when I was two. Sometimes I wish she took me with her. It was the only life I knew. I never knew much about dad, he had guns and knives in the trunk of our car, taught me how to use them, beat me if I did things wrong. He was a bad person."

She breathed and a tear came down her cheek.

"I think he was a criminal, maybe an assassin, I don't know. We were on the road for years, I occasionally went to a school for a couple of weeks where I was always the new kid, the only kid like thing I ever experienced was when he took me to Disneyland. And then, around two years ago, we were just outside Lawrence, near this town where half of it had been shut down and...these guys started shooting us. Dad got out the car and they got him, I saw the light leave his eyes. I was just a kid, 14, and I'd already seen too much death. I was terrified. I hid in the backseat and just sat there. I was there til morning. Whoever killed him was probably going to come back for the car. I knew that. So I got out and ran, leaving all of my things there. I stayed in this abandoned house for days. I didn't eat, didn't sleep, just sat there, giving up. I would have died but one day I heard people outside. They were coming in, probably to fix up the house or try and sell it. I left out the back and got the next bus to Lawrence. Everyone stared at me because of how dirty I was but I had a few dollars in my pocket. And when I got there, I found this apartment, it had been for sale for years. Some of the furniture was even left behind. I told the neighbours my family had just moved in, I made a new identity like dad taught me to and started a new life. Dad had this place he kept all the things he gathered up over the years, some furniture, a laptop, an ipod, some clothes for me and a couple of thousand dollars. And of course the car. I decorated the house all of it and thought for once, you know what, I'm gonna have a normal life. I enrolled at the school and started in September and well, you know the rest. I just feel so awful about what I did before then. My name isn't even really Meg Masters."

Cas was speechless. He let go of her.

"You lived through all of that?"

She nodded with red eyes.

"I fixed myself. At least, that's what I believe. You would know after all that happened to you at that kids' home."

"So what is your real name? And how did you come up with Meg Masters?"

"Meg Masters was the only person who was ever kind to me. At this one school, we became friends. She was popular and blonde but not in a Lily way. She had not a scrap of bitchiness in her. She was an angel. I was 12 and we were friends. BFFs you could say. I was there a whole seven months and I was happy until dad dragged me away again. I haven't used my real name in a long time."

"But you never did anything wrong. You were innocent."

"You are _so_ wrong about that. I killed a man OK. I killed at the age of only 9. I didn't mean it but it happened. We were running from the people after dad and they were shooting. I had a gun and I was loyal. I fired and it hit the poor man in the head."

Cas didn't know what else to do. He hugged her.

"But I've been thinking about Gab_, you know who's death for a while and I think it was the people who killed dad that day. They've been tracking me for a while, I could sense it. They must have been worried that I'd told someone, maybe they thought he was you. You feel guilty for not being there for him? It's my fault he's dead!" She screamed the last sentence.

"Meg, you have to calm down. Listen to me. We're your family now and it's all in the past. But something's going to happen tonight."

"What?" She wiped away a tear.

"I have my own secrets, you see um." He shook his head. "I draw pictures. And they happen. I drew one of you, stuck in a room, covered in blood and it seems like that was what happened to you after your dad died when you were alone in that house. Then, the night we...you know, I drew one of Gabriel. I thought he was sleeping but no I look at it, there was a mark over his heart like he'd been...stabbed."

"And?"

"Well last week, I did one more. One of you."

He uncrumpled it from his bag and revealed it.

"But... I don't understand." Meg looked at it slowly. Fear blazed through her eyes although she still tried to hold on to that smile.

"You see what I mean? I'm sketching a nightmare. We're getting out of here, OK?"

"OK. I'll_" But she didn't get to finish her sentence. A tiny, silver dot sped through the air at what must have been over a hundred miles an hour and came into contact with her forehead. She fell to the ground, the blood already spilling from her forehead.

"No, Meg, help!" He could not lose two loved ones in one week! The bullet must have gone deep. He couldn't see it. He looked in the direction it had come from but the shooter had already vanished.

"Please someone!" Trying to support her limp body, he couldn't reach his cell.

As she had fallen, the drawing had fallen from her hand and now lay beside her, face up, splattered with her own blood. Cas looked at it one last time, scared of whatever power. The detail was so good, you could almost believe it was a photo from someone at the scene of the crime. Because, Cas had drawn Meg, lying on the ground in a parking lot, with a hole in her head and Cas leaning over her.


	20. Chapter 20

Comatose patient 6. Room 118. Heart Rate: Steady. First brought in: 24th May 2014, gunshot wound to head. That was what Meg's file read.

It was almost certain she had died, it was what he had known in his head but his heart had just hoped for a small chance and that was what he got. She'd been lucky, she was strong. They had removed the bullet from her head. That was what the doctor had said as he rushed off to have a talk with the FBI who were trying to find out who exactly she was. Cas would not give information, he claimed he didn't know anything.

On the night it happened, he had called an ambulance and it arrived almost straight away. He sat my her side for the whole journey with his hand in hers. Her hand was warm still, that was a sign, but maybe it had just been the sticky, red blood, seeping from the hole in her head.

The FBI were clueless to who did it but he promised her he would not tell anyone. He would not tell about the drawing either. This was up to him now.

Dean and Charlie had come with Cas today, also hoping to see their friend. It was mostly empty, near to closing hours and Meg's room was on the first floor. A nurse passed them as they walked up the corridor.

"Are you here to see the Masters girl?" she asked them.

Cas nodded his head, shyly.

"So sad. It was just the worst thing." She hurried on, muttering sadly to herself. Cas had seen the Nurse around before, she was always checking up on Meg. She seemed so nice and caring, she even reminded him a bit of her.

Dean opened the door to reveal Meg in her bed. Everything was so white and clean, lifeless, just the stereotypical hospital scene. She had no cards except the ones from Cas which the Nurse had so kindly taped to the wall.

Dean put a rose down on the bedside table and then stood back up. Charlie sat down at Meg's legs.

"You're meant to talk to people in comas. Chances are, they'll hear you. So, I brought along the Hobbit to read to you."

"Charlie, no." Dean held out his hand to her.

"Maybe we should give Cas some time with her."

"Um, you two can stay."

He took his trenchcoat and laid it over her, then he took her hand, examining her bitten down nails. Charlie and Dean stood back, drifting into quiet conversation. He saw the blood rushing through the veins, her skin was so pale, and he massaged some heat into them.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered in her ear and gently kissed her neck. Then he joined his friends.

"I can't believe the FBI don't know who did it," Dean was commenting.

"What sort of son of a bitch would do that to her. He's obviously some kind of psycho."

"He was. And I know how to find him."

Dean looked surprised.

"You know? How?"

"I can't tell you."

"If this were any other time, I'd make some joke but right now, this is one of the worst times of my life."

Cas looked between the faces of his two friends. So hopeful. Dean was practically begging him.

He was unsure what to do. He recounted the whole story to them, nervously.

Charlie sat in silence. When he was done, he spoke up.

"So Meg's...?"

Cas nodded.                

"Cas, this is serious. We need to tell someone," Dean said.

"No I can't. Sorry, it's just I already told you." He shook his head. "That's breaking half the promise to Meg."

"Well what do we do then?" asked Dean.

"I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll kick ass!" Charlie jumped up.

"Charlie," moaned Dean. "Come on. Nothing good ever happens to kids who go off and solve mysteries.

"Well in times like this, you need to think, 'what would Hermione do?' And Hermione would rush in and kick ass."

"Cas, what do you think?" Both heads turned to him.

"Well I um, I think it's a bad idea."

Both of them looked annoyed at him.

"But," he continued. "With Charlie's computer hacking skills, we might be able to track them. It's a stupid idea, yes, and there's a 90 percent chance we'll die trying, but maybe we can get that 10 percent."

Both of them looked impressed.

"Wow, great speech. Hope our plan is just as easy as you make it sound," said Dean.

"Dean, gather together the other two members of team free will. We should meet at Charlie's flat at 7."

"Tonight? No we can't," said Charlie. "My mom's in tonight. But tomorrow, she's playing tennis."

"Well then it's sorted," said Dean. "We'll meet up tomorrow at 7."

**____________________**

Cas kept his eyes on the road, just like Meg had taught him. He drove the Milton shared car, as Amy liked to call it. The proper owner had been Gabriel but now... He rode the outskirts of town, through the dusty back roads. He still has half an hour until he had to be at Charlie's. He was holding it all in, all he felt, for his friends' benefit. In reality, it was all too much, his brother and his girlfriend both gone. On the inside, he just wanted to break down, screaming, not quite the same as Anna's red hot rage, and for the fourth time that day, he reached for the beer under the dashboard. Gabriel had left it there at some point. The Roadhouse came into view, at the edge of the road, few cars parked outside. Obviously not a busy night for the Harvelles. He went up to the door, holding his hand over the knocker when it opened. Ellen Harvelle stood there, Jo's mom.

"Cas? It's good to see you boy. Haven't seen you in ages." She swooped him up into a hug and he was comforted by her, her smell with the slightest hint of alcohol, probably a result of working in a bar all day.

"Listen, I'm sorry. Jo, told me what happened to your girlfriend."

"I'm OK," he said, staring at his feet.

"Her and Jo were close. It's a shame, she hasn't been hanging around with her friends as much now. She was dating Dean Winchester a few months ago. You're one of his friends aren't you? I knew his daddy. Poor man. But listen to me chatter all day. Come on in for a drink."

"Um, actually I uh...I can't stay." He shook his head. "I'm here to see Jo."

Ellen smiled and led him inside. Groups of men in cowboy hats sat around tables, at different stages of being drunk. Some had slumped forwards while others were still laughing and singing. Cas shuddered at the memory of the time Dean gave him his first beer.

Jo stood behind the bar, handing out drinks. She was shocked by Cas' appearance.

"Cas, what are you doing here?" Jo asked, sliding a beer to a woman with red hair.

"You know that homework we had to do?" He winked at her the way Dean did when he was telling a lie. Jo was confused for a moment but then got it.

"Right, the homework." She looked at Ellen. "Sorry mom. I'm working on a project with Cas." She pulled off her apron and they left out the back door.

"What the Hell, Cas?" Jo shouted.

"Charlie and me. We think we have a trail for who _did it_." He did not need to tell her what.

"Oh. And you need my help because?"

"We need all the help we can get." Another lie. She seemed satisfied.

He stood by the car door waiting until Jo had climbed into the front seat. Better for her to drive.

**____________________**

Charlie and her parents had an apartment like Meg but hers was bigger, large enough to hold three bedrooms (one for guests), two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living room, more like a small house. The walls of Charlie's room had been decorated with toy swords and figure from Lord of the Rings. A star trek uniform hung from her cupboard, draping over an enormous poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2.

Charlie took them into her bedroom where Dean, Anna and Balthazar were already sitting on the floor. Dean got up as they walked in.

"What's she doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," shouted Jo, and then they both looked angrily at Cas.

"Why did you bring her?" Dean locked eyes with him.

"W-we need more m-members of Team Free Will. We're d-down one."

"We don't always need six members," yelled Dean.

"Cas, you said it was just you and Charlie," Jo said, sitting down as far away from Dean as possible. "I'm not staying if he's here."

"Enough!" Anna screamed. "One person's dead and another pretty close to it and all you can talk about is some fucking lie Lily, of all people, came up with!" Her face was red.

"See, this is what I've had to deal with, the whole time you've been away," Dean said in a quieter voice. "She's friggin' crazy."

Anna kicked him. "So how are we going to figure this whole thing out?" Anna asked.

Dean had to think for a moment. "Charlie, can you hack into hospital records?" Charlie nodded and began to tap away on her laptop. The clicking of the keys was the only sound, distracting everyone from the ice cold tension between Dean and Jo.

"Got it," she finally called and turned the screen to face them. A photo of Meg's body, before it was even brought into the hospital, was spread out across the screen. Cas flinched as Dean made her zoom in. He examined it for a few minutes.

"The wound is small. That means, so was the bullet," he said as it was zoomed in closer. "It's more likely to have been a pistol than a shotgun. The bullet barely pierced the left frontal lobe so the shooter couldn't have been too close. Not able to aim that well. Obviously not from a rooftop."

"You seem to know a lot about this, Dean."

"Yeah. My dad used to take me and Sammy out hunting at weekends. He taught us all about this kind of stuff. Anyway, my guess is, the shooter was somewhere around _that_ corner."

For the first time, Cas noticed that Dean had a map spread out in front of him. His finger was pointing straight down on a small side street, off to the left of the parking lock and a good 20 metres from where him and Meg had been standing.

"Wow, if that took you a few minutes, imagine how long it would take an FBI agent, Sherlock," said Jo, sarcastically.

"Charlie, we're gonna need you to hack_"

"I could get in serious trouble for this," she interrupted him.

"Has that ever stopped you before?" Dean said and Charlie grinned before continuing typing and then again, stopping and showing the screen.

"This is some camera footage from that street."

Jo leaned in for a better view. The screen was dark and pixelated. It was hard to see anything and there was no movement.

"Uh Charlie, what are we looking for?"

"Shhh, watch."

A few seconds later, as the time on the screen read 7:14:43, a truck that blended in with the night, nothing that any person out that late would notice, drove across the screen.

"This is the only exit road from that area and that is the last thing that came down that road before the ambulance. Whoever our guy is, he drove that." She zoomed in until the number plates were visible. CRL 666.

"666? OK, this guy has some serious problems," said Charlie.

"If he _is_ a guy," Jo added.

"I could put out a countrywide search for those number plates but it could take a while." She kept her eyes fixed to the screen. One mistake and they could end up being tracked, either by the FBI or the murderer. Cas stared out of the window. Tonight was the opening night of Grease. He didn't know who was understudying for Meg but she would be nowhere near as good as Meg would have been. In another universe, a one where it ended happily, where he managed to save her, he could be sitting in the audience with their same group of friends here as well as Gabriel, watching as Meg belted out a solo. He pushed it away. Just a fantasy, a fairytale. Nothing ends happily after all. Life really does suck, just like Meg said.

"OK, on that day, that license plate was caught on four different cameras. This is the last one."

Everyone watched as the same truck they had seen earlier, drove down a stretch of road. There was no sign of any civilisation at all but the timer read 8:26:03. Just over an hour from the last footage.

"Great, so I know it took them one hour and...twelve minutes. Now I just have to figure out where this camera is."

"Maybe you don't need to," Dean said. "Look. A sign showed in the background. Some of the letters were visible but one or two had been cut off. BLUE MOUN WOOD.

"Blue mountain woods?" Dean figured out quickly.

"I've heard if that place," said Charlie. "It's like a nature reserve south of here. No one's allowed in. There was something back in the 90s where some douchebags decided to go hunting in there and got arrested. I think the government forgot about it after that."

"Wouldn't be the first time they've done that," Dean joked.

"So the murderer's _lair_ is in there?"

"Likely. Charlie, where's the next camera?"

"About a kilometer down that road."

"We'll go tomorrow," said Dean, standing up. "I have English first period, anyway."

"Wow it seems very soon," said Anna. "We should take a picture."

"Oh come on, no one wants a picture," Charlie said, as everyone lined up.

"Well our parents will need something to remember us by."

"Nice to have an optimist."

"Anna's right," said Cas. "Tomorrow we find this murderer. This is our last night on Earth."

The group of six stood as straight as possible and trying to keep smiles on their faces and the second the camera flashed, the door bell rang with a sharp ping.

"I'll be right back," said Charlie, with a look of concern, and she raced down the stairs. Seconds later, shouting could be heard from downstairs, followed by angry stomping and the door flew open with forcefullness. A girl with blonde hair in a ponytail, and a grey cardigan, strode right into Charlie's bedroom, with Charlie right behind her, tugging at her hair in an attempt to slow her down.

"Rachel?" Cas gasped in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Wait, wait, this is Rachel?" Dean leapt out. "Cas has told me all about you, you bitch!"

"And you think he hasn't told me about you, Dean Winchester? He thinks a lot of you."

"That's enough." Cas separated them. "Rachel, tell me why you're here."

"Does there have to be a reason why I came to see my _friend_?" She spat out the last word.

"And you came all the way from Illinois to see me?"

"Fine. The staff at the home thought it would be good to visit you after all the _tragedies you've had to live through._ " She made herself comfortable on the couch. "Cas, I know you, and I know what you're going to do."

"And why would you possibly care? Maybe if you hadn't..." He sighed and rested his hand on his head. "Sorry, I shouldn't blame you. You found out the truth."

"I'm not going to let you do this, Cas," said Rachel. "I have to stop you."

"How?"

"Either that or you let me help."

"No," Dean shouted. "We have to many already and she could slow us down."

Cas looked at him, hopefully and Dean dragged him to the side.

"Dude, are you actually falling for this?"

"She's my friend."

"And she's a bitch. We don't know if we can trust her."

Cas twisted his head away.

"Rachel, you can't come with us. But there's something I need you to do."

"Oh right, so you think I'm useless." Rachel folded her arms.

"No. We need you waiting here, with a phone in your hand. After two hours, you call 911 and tell them where we are."

"Right, I'm guessing there's nothing I can do to stop you."

Cas nodded. "This is what they call the eleventh hour, right? Well it's the eleventh hour and we're utterly powerless."

"So this is it," said Dean. "Team Free Will 2.0."


	21. Chapter 21

Dean took them out to the impala.

"Shotgun," called Balthazar.

"No," said Dean. "You can go in the back."

Cas grinned at Balthazar.

"You're in the back too," said Dean. "Jo, you can come in the front."

"Dean, if you're trying to make it up to me, it's not working," she replied.

Cas squeezed into the back and Balthazar, Charlie and Anna came in beside him.

"Quit touching my leg," Balthazar said to Cas.

"You're on my side."

"You two. Quit friggin' arguing or I swear I'll turn this car around." He started the engine and turned on one of his led zeppelin tapes.

It took over an hour to get to the Blue Mountain Woods. Far longer than Charlie had estimated. They had 45 minutes before Rachel called the cops.

In a way, the woods disappointed Cas. There were no mountains, especially blue ones. In fact, nothing was blue at all, just green and brown. But it was definitely a wood, stretching as far as the eye could see.

"So this is the hidden base for a bunch of terrorists," said Dean.

"We're gonna have to drive a bit," said Charlie. "That's the camera we saw, the next one will be further will be a hundred meters down, the entrance is somewhere between here and there." She pointed to a pole with a security camera attached. Dean restarted the car and drove slowly down the road while Anna watched the edge of the trees, looking for a small road that might lead them in.

"There," she said and Dean stopped again, jolting them all forwards. Cas' head cracked against the front seat. A tiny road that most people would just pass without comment, stretched out into the gloom. Instinctively, Cas squeezed Balthazar's hand and he pulled it away. Dean left and the road became narrower, so narrow that the impala could barely fit down it. It was bumpier too and he sped up. The trees pushed against both sides, tall and intimidating. Cas knew that the killer lurked somewhere behind them. It was almost certain that they would die. Suddenly the road seemed to drop downwards and they were spinning out of control, down the hill and into the open until they crashed straight into a sign.

Dean stepped out, shaking glass from his hair. There was a cut across his forehead and blood trickled from it. He winced and went to examine the front car window.

"Baby, no," he shouted dramatically.

"Well done, Dean," said Jo with so much sarcasm. "Now they'll never know we're here." She glared at him. Her whole left cheek was covered in scratches, not quite deep enough for blood. She clutched her leg but was still walking so it probably was not broken.

"Shut up." He opened the trunk.

"So I've got guns for each of you." He began to hand them out, a pistol for Anna, Cas and Charlie while the other three got shotguns.

"Where on _Earth_ did you get these?" asked Balthazar.

"I told you, my dad's a hunter. He has this kind of stuff."

"Hey, do you hear that?" Charlie put a hand over her ear and there was silence for a few seconds as everyone tried to make out the distant noise.

"It sounds like barking," Anna commented and Cas looked at her in fear as an enormous black dog, followed by seven or eight others, came into view.

"Attack dogs," said Cas.

"RUN!" Dean shouted at them. No one had to be told twice. Even Jo could run on her bad leg but Dean was lagging behind.

"Who has friggin attack dogs?" Dean was yelling over their heavy breathing.

Suddenly, a dog bit into his leg, pulling him over and he cried as it scratched his arm. Jo turned and saw what was happening and fired her shotgun. The dog fell to the ground, quite dead. Another one raced for her and after two bullets, lay like its sibling. The third time, she was not so lucky. The largest hound, knocked her to the ground and cut straight into her leg and deep into her chest. Her mouth was an open 'o' as she tried to push it off and time slowed down. Dean picked himself up and shot her dog just like she had done with his. But she had been quicker.

"Come on!" Dean scooped her up in his arms and they made for a tiny supply building at the side of the road. Balthazar bolted the door shut and, for extra help, pushed bags of salt in front. Dean rested Jo down against the wall and she whimpered. She was holding her guts in with one hand. Blood and all the other juices in there, spattered in little raindrops on the plastic floor. Her muscle was visible in a light shade of read. Charlie held her hand against Jo's chest, holding back all the blood.

"Balthazar, keep pressure on that. I'll find bandages."

Cas tried his phone. No signal. It was scary, yet another one of his visions coming true.

"What are we going to do?" he shouted, sounding exasperated.

"We've failed the mission," said Dean. "We'll just have to wait until the cops arrive, maybe they can bring a stretcher."

"No. It will take too long. The dogs could get in by then or maybe even the person in charge. I'm not even sure Jo can live until then"

"I just don't get it." Charlie came to stand next to them. "What kind of douchebag would hurt and try to kill, innocent children? Jo should live, I took first aid in middle school."

"We were thinking, maybe we could bring a stretcher in for_"

"Hold on a second, guys," said Jo, weakly from the corner. "I can't fight, can't walk. But maybe I can do something. If I can get you a distraction. Cas, Dean and Anna, you can get into the main building and have your revenge. We can stay here and wait for the dogs. Balthazar can shoot as many as possible. We have everything we need, to defend ourselves from the dogs. And if we died trying, it would be worth it. If I can get a shot at this guy, then you have to take it."

"No, Jo, you don't have to do this." Dean leaned in and held her face in his hands.

"Please don't do this." He lightly kissed her forehead.

"See you later," she said, grinning with red teeth.

"Come on, we have to go." Cas went for the back door with his gun at the ready. Dean nodded Jo a goodbye and Balthazar picked up his shotgun, ready to do his best to get rid of those dogs. He took the bags of salt away from the entrance and undid the bolt.

"Go, go now!" Cas, Dean and Anna ran, not even turning back as they heard the barking and gun shots being fired as well as Charlie yelling "Die bitches, die!" More small supply buildings, were littered around the enormous clearing of the forest. It was impossible to believe something this big and illegal was going on down here, away from the public's eye.

"That must be the main building," Anna whispered. Before them stood a clear white building, similar to a hospital and about the same size. But no one was visible going in or out. Cas rested his head against the door.

"It's clear," he whispered to Dean and took a paper clip from his pocket. He'd been saving it for situations like these. He began to move it around in the lock.

"Uh,  Cas..."

"Dean, I'm almost done."

"Stand back." He pushed Cas out of the way and kicked the lock. It smashed.

"Dean, wow," said Anna.

"Eighth grade wrestling champion," he grinned, proudly. He looked at Cas.

"Ladies first." Cas glared and went in, followed by Anna and then, finally Dean.

Cas didn't know what he had expected. Maybe for it to be clean like in the hospital but the interior was anything but clean. Dirt, mud, some kind of moss and something dried and red that looked suspiciously like blood, was smudged across the tiled walls like those from a bathroom.

"So, Cas this was your idea. You get to choose which way we go." Dean looked at him expectantly.

"Um, maybe," he shook his head. "I don't know, left?"

"Wow, you sound sure. Ok, Cas has spoken. We're going left."

Dean cut around the corner and Cas poked his head round before following. Dean had bent down, next to another bloodstained wall, stiff and obviously in shock. This corridor was exactly the same as the last except an enormous window that stretched the length of it. Cas peered in with Anna's clammy hand clutching his. It was a room, just as dirty as the rest of this building. It was filled with boxes as well, and the boxes were being packed by workers; children workers. All under the age of 16 and over the age of 7, most of Asian or African descent, around 30 of them all together, each with shaven heads and various bruises up and down their bodies. A girl came close to the window and Cas ducked down quickly. She wore a flannel material dress, originally red but now with a few bloodstains. She had a cut down her cheek. She was no older than 13, the same age as Sam and Dean held a look of horror. Cas knew he was a bad person but in a way he was relieved. Whoever their murderer was was definitely a bad person.

"What the Hell is going on?" Anna shouted out loud and Dean rushed to cover her mouth.

"Are you friggin' crazy? Do you want to be caught?" He had lowered his voice to a whisper and grabbed Anna's shirt. "Come on." He dragged them both, keeping their heads down by the floor tiles. Yes, it was definitely blood and the smell wafted up his nostrils and he gagged, swallowing bile. A doorway, a metal door, lay at the end of the corridor. Unlike the rest of this place, it was clean. Was it something important? Cas' heart thudded in his chest and he knew now was the time to start praying. Dean placed his hand on the surface of the door and it gave way. He got his shotgun at the ready but Anna pushed it away.

"Leave this to me." She reloaded her pistol and crouched behind the corner as Dean pushed the door open to an office where a figure stood in the center.

"Hallo boys."

Mr Crowley?

"Crowley?" Dean questioned. Mr Crowley leaned on the desk. He wore a smart suit with a red tie. But it couldn't be him, could it?

"Bet you didn't expect me, did you boys. So are you two going to take me down, all alone?"

"No," said Dean. He was still recovering from the shock. "Because we're not alone."

Anna stepped into the doorway with her face paler than usual and eyes wide. She pointed her gun at his head and Crowley stood back.

"Why did you do it?" Anna asked. She took a step closer to him but he did not flinch. Tears fell from her eyes and she blinked to hold them back.

"Oh, you mean your girlfriend. Yes. I knew her dad back in the day. Always the _thorn_ in my side. We thought we got her of course, that day, what was it, two whole years ago. We thought we got his little whore. She was a dangerous one. Killed one of my men. And then, we hear she's alive and at a high school of all places. I knew I had to keep an eye on her myself. Couldn't have her giving away any of my secrets."

"So you shot her!" Cas yelled.

"Yes, not my best work but you know what they say. If at first you don't succeed try try, bla bla bla. And then there was Gabriel. Just a mistake. Anna, you were our first target. If she would tell anyone my secrets, it would be her best friend. Count yourself lucky your brother got in the way. And you lot would have been next as her friends and boyfriend. But no time for that now. I've got some killing to do."

"What are you running here you dick? Some sort of racist slavery thing?" Dean shouted at him.

"Dean Winchester. Always the odd one out. The rebel. You were always a problem. But enough flirting."

"I'm not joking, I will shoot you," said Anna but already they heard the nerves in her voice.

"Anna Milton. Sweet little Anna Milton. I've known you since you were in middle school. You'd never hurt a fly."

"Yeah. Funny how having their brother killed can change a person."

"You're not going to fire that, darling."

"And Meg, you shot her as well. What kind of twisted person could you be to do something like that?" Anna's hand shook.

"I can't wait all day. This is a good lesson for you. _Never_ try and take down the King."

Cas had had enough of him.

"It's all your fault! It's all your fault that Gabriel's dead and Meg's gone! You hear that? It's all your fault you damn son of a bitch!"

"Cas, calm down!" Dean grabbed his arm. "He's powerless. He's unarmed. You can't hurt us can you, dick?"

"Oh, you always assume everything. Always think you're right. For once, you're not." Crowley opened out his hand. Some sort of device rested in his palm with one simple, red button.

"Who do you think will be quicker? Me or you? There's a bomb in that room with the children. There's another one in my supply building. Oh you think I don't know about your little friends? I see everything." He moved his finger into the center of the button.

"So, what will it be, Anna?"

"You...assbutt!" Cas yelled at him.

"Assbutt?" Dean looked surprised and proud.

Cas shrugged.

Anna stood frozen with the pistol shaking in her hand.

"Tick tock," said Crowley. Anna took a step forward, aiming the gun at his forehead. Her finger tightened on the trigger and then she moved the gun down, aiming it at his hand, and fired_


	22. Chapter 22

Stories should end up happily ever after. But then, that's hardly realistic. Last chapters are for wrapping everything up and tying them all in a neat little bow. Again, almost impossible within the restricted words. Instead, imagine this: A public hospital in Lawrence on the first week of the Summer, late afternoon. By now, most people have cleared away. They were too busy, rushing off on their vacations to care about their relatives. A teenaged boy with dark hair, walks through the halls, completely alone. He stops at room 118. A girl lies in the bed with brown hair spread out around her, hooked up to a heartrate machine that beeps in the background. Hopefully he will never be there as it reaches a long beeeeep. That and the steady rise and fall of her chest are the only sins she is alive. On her bedside table sits a pile of books and on the wall, a few cards from her so called 'friends' even though they probably barely spoke to her. Most of them have fallen to the floor. A nurse sits outside, sorting through sheets. And he sits there, just fr a while, holding her hand.

Mr Crowley survived. Anna's bullet had been perfect, hitting him right in the hand where he carried the activator of the bomb. It had gone straight through his finger and destroyed the activator. His trial is next month. Jo, Balthazar and Charlie were recovered hours later, still in the supply building with Jo still bleeding to death. Luckily, Charlie, as she had said, had taken first aid club in middle school. When the police finally arrived along with two ambulances, All three of them were rushed to hospital, Jo in the emergency ward while the other two were treated for shock. Jo's badly hurt but will most likely survive. It turns out, Mr Crowley was a criminal. He sold drugs, he worked for the black market and he kept captive children as slaves. That was what they had seen it that room. As I hear, all those children are now being returned to their families. Meg's father, he was one of those children who escaped as a teenager. He was still running when he was killed but it seems like he was trying to shut the business down and unmask Crowley. Cas wishes Meg could have known that her dad was trying to help, that he was on Team Good. No one had found her mom or any other relatives. It was hard when they didn't even know her name. With no, known family members, the hospital had agreed, six months and if she did not wake up, they would pull the plug on her. Two months later and time is running out. The staff are pretty sure she's brain dead.

It's the end of the school year and hardly anyone's having fun. Dean's trying to make it up to Jo while over at the hospital with the Jo's mom, Ellen. She's upset with him for letting her get into danger. The Milton household is silent, everyone grieving over Gabriel still. Amy's stopped working, cooking and eating, slowly transforming into a skeleton. Rich is suggesting a vacation to get away from it all, but no one seems in the mood. And Anna still feels awful. Shooting Mr Crowley had not helped at all, despite her thinking it would.

"Hello, Meg. It's me, Cas. Uh, I haven't been in a while but I wanted to let you know um...I wanted you to know that_." He sighs, not able to think of what word to use next. He props her up against her pillow. She is deathly pale and her skin is cold. He kisses her forehead. Things could have been so different for them. Meg had hardly been the type for settling down but who knew, maybe one day they could have started a family together. The dreams they talked about, leaving school and going to college, her becoming an actress and him an artist, wasted. He did not cry often, a few months ago Dean would have made fun of him for it but now, a single tear rolls down his cheek.

"You used to call me Clarence. I uh, I didn't understand that reference. I still don't. I want to hear you call me Clarence just one more time. I care about you so much Meg. None of us could bear to lose you."

She had been right. There was no Heaven, no God. If there were, why couldn't he help them? If he was so all-powerful, all-loving, did he love her? She certainly was not the best person in the world but to call her a bad person, wrong on so many different levels.

"Meg, you-you remember for Christmas, I got you your own album cover? I found your songs. Don't worry, I didn't listen to them." He chuckles slightly. "You missed Grease. No one could have done as good a performance at Rizzo as you. I heard they did a memorial for you at the end, Gabriel too." He was meant to massage her muscles now, for if she would ever use them again, they needed to be less stiff. He proceeds to do that. He doesn't blame Rachel for any of this, she didn't shoot him afterall but still she refuses to forgive herself. Every moment, he sits by her bed, he expects her eyes to flutter open. But who is he kidding? That never happens. In stories, sure but in real life? He takes her hand once again.

"They don't think you're going to make it, Meg. So, if this is goodbye, tell Gabriel we miss him." He pauses for a while. "Your dad was good you know. He was trying to stop Crowley. Crowley was the bad person, not you. Charlie says you should be able to understand everything I'm saying so at least you know that. The drawings have stopped now. I don't know if it's because of you or I've just lost my powers for good. But I'm going to try something. Do me a favor and try to wake up." He secures an earplug in each of her ears and attaches them to her ipod, the only color in this plain, miserable room. He presses play. For a second, he thinks, maybe something will happen, she looks so close to sitting up, he can almost hear her voice. But then, she's as still as ever.

"I'm sorry. You're going to have to leave soon." The nurse stands in the doorway with her hair secured in a bun. She does look a lot like Meg, it's true.

"Could you uh, give me five more minutes?"

"Of course." She leaves once again.

Cas goes to stand beside the window. All hope was well and truly lost for her. He could come back everyday of the week until he was practically dead as well but it wouldn't change anything. She would still be lying in that bed until they finally unplugged her and took her far away. He could unplug her now. But he's not going to do that, he's too much of a coward. Screw fate, screw natural order. Everyone should be given some chance. No one should be taken this early.

"Hey bro."

He turns round. "Gabriel?" He rubs his eyes but Gabriel is still there, lollipop in his hand and dressed in a grey shirt.

"We miss you."

"What, you think I could die and no one would miss me? No one misses this face."

"Am I imagining this?"

"Of course."

"So you're still..."

"Dead. Of course. You don't have much good luck do you?" And then he comes forward and hugs him. Cas wonders what it must look like if Gabriel isn't really there, if he is just hugging air."

"Gabriel, what do I do?"

"Shouldn't you be asking yourself that? You can't give up. She's stronger than this."

"I don't have any other choice."

"Oh really." Then Gabriel vanishes into thin air.

Cas sighs and turns around to see Meg sitting up in bed with her eyes open. She pulls each ear plug from her ears. "God, my voice sounds awful on recording," she croaks.

"Meg?"

"Miss me Clarence? Sorry I was gone so long."

"No, no it's OK. You'll be alright." He takes both her hands and cries. But for once, these are tears of happiness. He has a reason to be happy. After all this, he will at least have a little happily ever after.

"Hey, I'm dying for some pizza."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end of the story. As you can probably tell, a lot of this story was based on Mean Girls. I would like to thank Hannah for reading through this story and helping me get rid of at least some of the cheesiness and Rana for your constant ship bashing that drove the story forwards. Also, thanks to everyone who left kudos and commented. I would like to make it clear that the friendly nurse in the story is in fact Meg's mom as we never find out what happened to her. I also know what Meg's real name would have been but I am not going to reveal it. I put in that last bit with Gabriel just for the sake of last night's episode (Meta Fiction).


End file.
